


Heirs of the Old Religion: Prisoner of Azkaban

by SpideytheKid (BlkRse)



Series: Heirs of the Old Religion [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Friendship, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-03-17 11:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3527300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlkRse/pseuds/SpideytheKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Morgana delve deeper into the Old Religion and learn who it is they can and cannot trust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Breathe in._

_Breathe out._

_Breathe in._

_Breathe out._

_This is stupid_ , Morgana thought herself. Still, she kept control of her breathing and tried to clear her mind.

For the past few days she had been trying to _make_ herself have visions instead of waiting for them to manifest themselves as nightmares. She wasn’t sleeping very well, again, and it was beginning to show. The headaches had returned, she wasn’t eating as much, bags were under her eyes and her nightmares were worse than they had ever been. More than once she had woken up screaming. Agravaine had become very worried.

“Perhaps it’s time you spoke to someone,” he said one morning after a particularly bad night. “There’s only so much I can do for you.”

Morgana shrugged her shoulders. “They’re just nightmares,” she lied. “I’ll be fine.”

Despite her reassurances, Agravaine was hesitant to leave Morgana with the Malfoys. He was going to France for a few days and refused to leave her at the estate by herself.

The rough nights did not stop at Malfoy Manor. After seeing Narcissa terrified for her wellbeing in the middle of the night, Morgana was determined to control her visions.

The book Merlin had given her said that in order to have a vision, ‘one’s mind must be clear and their Inner Eye must be open’. What an Inner Eye was, Morgana did not know and that was probably what was hindering her from having a vision.

Frustrated, she opened her eyes and glossed over a paragraph in the book and a certain phrase caught her attention.

_“Keep an open mind. Believe in the phenomena of divination and it will reveal itself to you.”_

She sighed deeply and tried to meditate again. She kept much of her focus on the magic humming just below the surface of her skin. It comforted her and she felt the muscles in her back and shoulders completely relax. The humming grew and put her mind at ease. The feeling resembled sleep, so she gladly embraced oblivion…

_Morgana’s eyes flew open just as there was a knock at the door._

_“Morgana, it’s me,” a voice said from the other side of the door. “Open up.”_

_“Draco?”_

Gold faded from Morgana’s iris as she opened her eyes. She was lying on her back and looking at the ceiling when she heard someone knock on her door. _What the-?_

Sitting up quickly, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood.

“Morgana, it’s me,” Draco said. “Open up.”

Her eyes widened. _Holy crap, it worked._

“Draco?” she asked, just to confirm.

He opened the door and leaned against the doorframe. “Were you expecting someone else?”

Morgana didn’t answer. She just stood there staring at him in amazement. _It worked_ , she thought. _That really worked._

“Are you okay?” Draco asked. “You’re being…weird.”

“Sorry.” Morgana sat back down, feeling dizzy.

Draco looked at her oddly. “Mother wants you. She’s in the sunroom. And try not to be so weird,” he added. “She has company.”

Morgana waited a moment before she tried to stand again. The dizzy feeling was gone but she was still in awe of what had just happened. She had had a vision and she made it happen on her own.

Already Morgana was planning on trying again later on that night, but the closer she got to the sunroom the more she wondered who it was Narcissa wanted her to meet. Over the course of her life, Morgana had met many people of importance. From members of the Wizengamot to Hogwarts Board of Governors, she had met several witches and wizards with political clout.

The moment she entered the sunroom, Morgana was met with a soft, “there you are.”

Narcissa stood from her seat to usher Morgana into the room. She took her goddaughter’s hand and led her to a chair next to her own.

A woman with dark brown eyes and golden hair sat opposite them, who smiled warmly at Morgana. She wasn’t sure what it was about this woman, but she seemed familiar to Morgana.

“This is Vivienne’s daughter Morgana,” Narcissa said to the woman.

There was a flash of sadness across the woman’s face. It was brief, but Morgana caught it.

“You look exactly like your mother,” she said softly.

“Thank you,” Morgana replied.

“Sweetheart, this is Morgause Duval,” Narcissa explained. “She knew your mother.”

“Oh?” Morgana raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Morgause turned to Narcissa. “You make it sound like Vivienne and I were close friends.” Looking back to Morgana, she admitted, “Your mother was a few years behind me in school.”

Morgana smiled politely at the information as Narcissa ran her hands through her goddaughter’s hair.

“Are you still teaching Divination?” Narcissa asked her guest.

Morgana tamped down her interest and feigned a bored expression.

“I am,” Morguase nodded. “Quite frankly I’m afraid of who Madam Maxime would replace me with.”

Narcissa smiled smugly. “Not everyone has the gift.” She played with a strand of Morgana’s hair before adding, “Morgana will be taking Divination this year.”

“Really?” Morgause looked Morgana right in the eyes. “Interested in the subject or just filling your schedule?”

Morgana’s interest in Divination was only because it was similar to her gift of foresight. She wasn’t about to tell a complete stranger that, though.

Deciding to laugh it off, Morgana answered, “it was either that or Muggle Studies.”

Narcissa scoffed and Morgause smiled in good humor.

* * *

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent observing Morgause. She was interesting to say the least. Morgause wasn’t part of the aristocracy of the wizarding world; Morgana could tell that by the way she acted. But Narcissa treated Morgause just as well as politicians that had come to dinner before. It made Morgana wonder what was so special about this woman.

She wasn’t snooty, or condescending like other people she had been introduced to. Morgause seemed to be passive but she wasn’t afraid to disagree. She was polite of course, but there was no question as to where she stood on the matter.

This told Morgana that Morgause was bold. People rarely disagreed with a Malfoy, believing their opinion was popular opinion.

By the time Morgause announced that she had to go, Morgana decided she liked Morgause Duval. So much so that Morgana offered to escort her to the front doors.

“What is your favorite subject in school?” Morgause asked once they were out of Narcissa’s earshot.

“History,” Morgana answered immediately.

“Ah yes, the past.” Morgause grinned and slowed her pace to a stop. “If we do not acknowledge the past, we will make similar mistakes in the future. Don’t you agree?”

Feeling baited, Morgana frowned. “I suppose.”

“But I’m sure with a gift like yours, the future may come as no surprise.”

Morgana’s heart dropped but she hid her shock the best she could. “What do you-”

“I know you haven’t been sleeping,” Morgause whispered. “The visions seem too…intense when you sleep.” She tilted her head sideways a bit. “But you’re trying to understand, and that’s a start.”

Morgana blinked several times in an attempt to keep her composure. “How…how do you-”

Morgause answered with a smile. “Do not be afraid of the gifts you’ve been given.” She lifted Morgana’s chin up with a finger. ‘ _And protect your mind child. Many would kill to harness your power.’_

Morgana’s eye widened.

“Do you understand, sweetheart?” Morgause asked.

Unable to speak, Morgana just nodded.

“Good.” After smiling kindly, Morgause walked out the front door.

Morgana clasped her shaking hands together, unsure of what to do next. She felt vulnerable; exposed. Because not only did Morgause Duval know she was a Seer, but she had Old Magic.

* * *

 

Merlin gasped loudly as he was shaken awake in his bed. There was something heavy on his chest and he immediately started to panic.

“Shhh.”

Merlin followed the sound to a pair of gold glowing eyes. Calm magically washed over him and he was able to think properly.

“Dad?” he rasped.

“Shh,” Balinor repeated. “Your mother is still sleeping.”

Merlin glanced at the clock on his desk. “It’s almost three in the morning.”

“Mmhm. Get dressed and meet me outside,” Balinor instructed. “Don’t wake your mother.”

Merlin nodded in the dark and did as he was told. Quietly as he could, he tiptoed out of his room and down the stairs. Once outside, Merlin joined Balinor in the garden. The elder Ambrose held out his hand, and Merlin gulped before taking it.

Side along apparition wasn’t something Merlin enjoyed.

They appeared in a forest and, judging by the way Balinor seemed to be stepping on every leaf and twig on the ground, there was no need to be quiet anymore.

“Where are we going?” Merlin asked.

“The Gathering.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” Balinor stopped walking suddenly. “Your mother is not to know about this.”

Merlin frowned. ‘ _Why not?’_

Balinor sighed and started walking again. “She’d kill me. But you’re of age and this is part of our history. It’s in your blood.”

They kept walking for a while and Merlin noticed an orange light flickering through the darkness.

“Fire,” he whispered.

“Mmhm. That means we’re not the first ones here,” Balinor replied.

They entered a clearing with large stone slabs were in the shape of a horseshoe. At the end of the horseshoe was a roaring fire and standing directly in front of that was an old man.

He turned to face them and Merlin couldn’t help but smile.

“Dragonlord,” Gaius greeted.

“No need to be so formal, old friend,” Balinor replied.

“Speaking of ‘friend’,” Gauis winked at Merlin, “as your friend, you are aware it will be me presiding over your funeral if Hunith finds out you brought Merlin with you.”

“As my friend, I’d hope you wouldn’t be the one to tell her.” Balinor laughed. “You disagree with him being here?”

Gaius shook his head. “He is of age. He has every right to be here.”

“As do all children of the Old Religion.”

All three turned to see a figure dressed in purple robes enter the clearing. Her voice almost sounded bitter. “Regardless of their upbringing.”

“There is a reason all cannot be in attendance,” Gaius said quickly.

Merlin was under the impression that this conversation had happened before.

“The reason,” the woman said sharply, “is ridiculous.”

Gaius opened his mouth to respond when Balinor put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“No need to get all worked up before we find out what this is all about,” he said.

“For once, I agree with Balinor.” Another woman entered the clearing and pulled down the hood of her red cloak. There was a smirk on her face. Not a playful smirk like Morgana often had. This one looked dangerous.

“Ah, Nimueh. Glad you climbed out of whatever hole you were in to join us.” Merlin noticed that his father’s tone was similar to the one he used with Mr. Malfoy.

He didn’t hear what was said after that. The sound of crunching leaves caught his attention. He looked behind him and used his magic to try and look through the darkness.

“Dad,” he said, “something…someone is coming.”

“Go find out,” Balinor suggested.

Merlin gave his father a look. “Seriously?”

“Go on,” Balinor said. “We’re all right here.”

Fear rose in Merlin’s chest, but he nodded and made his way through the forest. He walked quite a distance before turning around to see how far he had gotten from the fire. When he turned back around, he tripped over a fallen log.

Merlin had expected to hit the ground but a strong hand grabbed his arm, steadying him. Snatching his arm away, Merlin held up his hand to cast whoever this was back but the voice stopped him.

“Mr. Ambrose,” wheezed the voice. “Pine with dragon heartstring. Eleven inches. Quite flexible. Yes…yes. I had hoped to see you here.”

Merlin frowned. “Mr. Ollivander?”

“Help an old man, will you?”

Ollivander took Merlin’s arm and Merlin led the way back to the others.

“There you are Garrick.” Gaius moved to shake the wandmaker’s hand.

“Gaius,” Ollivander greeted. “We’re not all here…”

“No,” Nimueh snipped. “Some were not allowed to be here.”

Ollivander frowned. “Is he not coming?”

Gaius shook his head. “Other matters to attend to.”

“Of course, of course.” Ollivander hobbled over to one of the stones and sat down.

Balinor leaned forward as Merlin joined his father on their own seat of stone. “What’s this about?”

Everyone looked to the woman in the purple cloak. “The Seer has been revealed.”

Merlin’s eyebrow shot up. _There’s another Seer?_

“Oh really?” Nimueh asked skeptically. “Who is this Seer?”

“Their identity will remain unknown,” the woman said.

Nimueh laughed mirthlessly. “There is no Seer.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his father shake his head slowly. “It was only a matter of time before a Seer was found. We already knew about the boy.”

“Boy or no boy, there has not been a Seer for generations,” Nimueh snapped.

Ollivander spoke up. “That doesn’t mean it’s not possible.”

“Are you sure?” Balinor asked the woman. “You’re absolutely positive?”

She regarded him for a long time before finally giving a short nod. “Yes.”

“How can you be so certain?” Gaius asked.

“I saw the return of the Dark Lord in their mind,” the woman answered.

“You saw it in their mind?”

All eyes turned to Merlin, who had spoken before he could stop himself.

“Yes, young Ambrose. In their mind,” she said.

 _‘Legilimency.’_ Balinor explained. “So, the Seer has foreseen the return of Lord Voldemort.”

“So she says,” Nimueh mumbled.

“If this is indeed the Seer of prophecy, we’ll have to be on our guard,” Gaius said, ignoring Nimueh. “Given this information and recent events…this does not bode well.”

Balinor rubbed his eyes. “We have to protect the boy.”

“Yes,” Ollivander nodded. “In the meantime, the Seer must be protected as well. As you know the identity of this person, Morgause, you will be given this task.”

“Of course.” She pulled the purple hood from her head and looked directly at Merlin. ‘ _You would be better suited for this task.’_

Merlin frowned briefly before schooling his features. ‘ _What do you mean?’_

Morgause grinned mockingly. ‘ _Who better to protect Morgana than her closest friend?’_


	2. Chapter 2

Sleep came easy once Merlin returned to his bed. The sun had well established itself in the sky by the time Merlin woke up. He showered and got dressed before he went downstairs to the kitchen. On the fridge was a note in his father's handwriting that said 'Out back. Bring your wand.'

Intrigued, Merlin grabbed his wand and headed outside. Balinor was sitting on a bench by the garden and slicing an apple. He saw his son and smiled.

"And here I was thinking you had ignored my note."

Merlin shook his head. "Just woke up."

Balinor nodded and handed his son an apple slice. "Go ahead and ask."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at his father, and Balinor raised an eyebrow back.

"I know you have questions about last night. Go ahead and ask them."

Without any further prompting, Merlin asked his questions in rapid succession. "What was all that last night? Who were those women? Who wasn't allowed to be there last night? Was it Morgana? Why? And did you know she was the Seer they were talking about? And if Mr. Ollivander has Old Magic, why does he make wands?"

Balinor laughed loudly. "Slow down son. One at a time."

Merlin took a deep breath and started over. "Who were those people last night?"

"What did they all have in common?"

Merlin frowned. He hated when his father made him figure out the answer to his own questions. "They all have Old Magic?"

"Mmhm." Balinor nodded and offered another apple slice. "…so?"

"So," Merlin took the slice and stared at it for a moment. "The Gathering is a meeting of people who practice the Old Religion?"

"Yes," Balinor said cheerfully. "Next question."

"Why?"

"Magic speaks to us all in different ways, son." Balinor said. "The Gathering is to pass information along."

"I suppose that makes sense," Merlin nodded. "Did you know Morgana was the Seer Morgause was talking about?"

Balinor hung his head and sighed. "Yes." He jabbed his knife into the apple and left it there. "When you told me about your friend, I hoped she wasn't the Seer we were told about. I suppose part of me knew it was her, which is why I hadn't told anyone."

Merlin's concern for his friend grew. "Is her being a Seer a bad thing?"

"In general? Not really." Balinor shook his head. "But as she is the Seer we were told about, yes. It's bad. Her visions are going to get worse. And they're going to come true."

Merlin gulped. "What do I do?"

Balinor smiled at him and clapped him on the back. "Keep being her friend."

There had to be something else he could do to help, but Merlin decided to figure that out on his own. He had several more questions. "Dad?"

"Son."

"What was the prophecy that Morgana was mentioned in?"

"Hm." Balinor tilted his head back to look at the sky. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Merlin questioned.

"I was sworn to secrecy," Balinor answered simply.

Merlin made a face. "By who?"

Balinor grinned and looked at his son. "That would be telling."

Merlin crossed his arms in a silent pout…until his father offered him another slice of apple.

"Don't be upset son. We're just trying to protect you."

Again, Merlin wanted to ask just who 'we' were but knew he would get no answer. They sat in silence, watching the clouds float by.

A thought suddenly came to the young warlock. "Voldemort is dead."

Balinor raised an eyebrow at him. "Is he?"

"Yes. He died the night the Potters were killed. How is he supposed to return if he's dead? You can't come back from the dead." Merlin rambled.

"Well there's a simple answer to that son," Balinor said. "Voldemort simply isn't dead."

"The Ministry has been telling everyone he's dead," Merlin countered. "Has the Ministry been lying to people all these years?"

"Yes," Balinor said simply. "Understand son, Fudge is not a wartime Minister. So it would be in his best interest for everyone to believe Voldemort is gone."

"That's stupid," Merlin commented. "If he's alive, then people need to know."

Balinor nodded. "I agree with you." He stopped talking, but the silence that hung in the air let Merlin know there was much more his father wanted to say.

Deciding to change the subject, Merlin asked, "Can we trust Morgause?"

"I don't trust anyone but you, your mother and Gaius," Balinor answered. "So no."

"Can Morgana trust her?"

"That's something Morgana is going to have to figure out for herself," Balinor answered. "However, I do trust in Morgause's Legilimency abilities." He eyed his son. "The Forbidden Forest, son? Really?"

Merlin's eyes widened. He'd never told his father about running off into the forest at school. Now, he was certain he was about to get in trouble for it. "It's the only place we can practice our magic."

"That won't be an option this year, Merlin." Balinor stood from his seat. "It's not safe."

"Nothing's bothered us before," Merlin defended.

"I understand that, but things are going to be different this year," his father responded. "Did you bring your wand with you?"

Merlin touched his pocket and nodded.

"Good," Balinor took out his own wand. "I'm going to teach you something."

Merlin stood to his feet and pulled his wand from his pocket. "What is it?"

"The Patronus Charm."

* * *

"So the alarms go off and everyone is going mental," Mordred said excitedly. "All of a sudden I see dad run down the hall into this room so of course I followed and there's this man lying on the bed. He's not moving and he doesn't look like he's breathing either."

Morgana nodded. "And then?"

"Well dad's yelling at everyone to get back. Then this nurse comes in with a cart. So then dad cut's this guy's shirt open-"

"What for?" Morgana questioned.

"I'm getting to that," Mordred assured her. "After he cuts this guy's shirt open, he grabs these pad things off the cart and tells everyone to get back. There was a charging noise, ya know? Then dad slammed them on the guy's chest." Mordred paused for dramatic effect. "Shocked him, dad did. Hit him two more times with the pads and then beep… beep… beep. He restarted the guy's heart."

"Wow," Morgana gasped. "That's…that's-"

"Crazy?" Mordred nodded. "I know! And then dad just walks out, like nothing ever happened. It was insane."

"Not for him I'm sure," Morgana said. "If he's a Muggle healer then I'm sure he's done that before."

"Well yeah, but I've never seen it before. It kinda makes me want to be a healer."

Morgana raised an eyebrow. "So you can shock people back to life? How noble of you."

Merlin walked into the compartment at that very moment, a grin on his face. "Mordred's being noble? Am I dreaming?"

Mordred glared at him, which made Morgana laugh.

"Our Mordred decided to be a healer after a rather interesting summer," she explained.

"Must have been a very interesting to come to that," Merlin said, settling in his seat. "How was your summer, Morgana?"

At this point in their friendship, it was safe to say Morgana knew Merlin quite well. Well enough to know that Merlin knew the answer to his own question. There was no inquisitive lilt to his voice that usually accompanied his questions. His tone was even and the look he was giving Morgana dared her to lie to him.

Suspicious, Morgana raised an eyebrow at him. "You first."

The stared each other down for a long time; Mordred looked between the two as if following a tennis match.

Merlin spoke first. "You met someone. A woman."

Morgana frowned but didn't speak.

"She knows you're a Seer."

Morgana shook her head in confusion. "How do you know about that?"

"Because I met her too," Merlin answered.

Mordred raised his hand. "How about you guys tell me about what's going on?"

"I'm with Mordred," Morgana agreed. She looked to Merlin and said, "explain."

For the next hour, Merlin explained the Gathering, Morgause and the conversation he'd had with his father. Mordred kept asking questions and the more Merlin answered them the more Morgana's head started to hurt.'

"Let me get this straight," Morgana said, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. "There's a prophecy about me?"

Merlin nodded. "Yes."

"And it has something to do with the Dark Lord returning?"

"From what I know, yes."

"And no one thought to tell me any of this?" She didn't mean to sound irritated, but she couldn't help it. She hated being left in the dark.

Merlin shook his head. "Morgause never mentioned your name."

"Why not?"

"To protect you?" Mordred wondered out loud.

"She doesn't even know me," Morgana replied. "Why protect someone you don't know?"

Merlin shrugged. "Does she need a motive?"

"I like to know the intentions of those around me," Morgana snapped. "So, yes. She needs a motive."

"She believes you're the Seer in this prophecy," Mordred supplied. "There's your motive."

"No," Morgana shook her head. "There's got to be more to it than that."

"Why don't you just find out?" Merlin suggested.'

"Sure," Morgana said sarcastically, "I'll write her a letter and demand that she tell me what she's up to."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Morgana, you can do better than that."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you suggesting that I  _play_  her?"

Merlin shrugged with indifference and looked out the window. "I'm simply suggesting that you should find out what she knows."

"Do you really think I'm that clever?" she asked.

Still looking out the window, Merlin grinned. "I _know_  you're that clever."

* * *

The three were quiet for a while, until Merlin asked Mordred about his summer. Once again the young Slytherin began telling the tale of how his father shocked someone back to life. Having heard the story, Morgana didn't participate in the conversation.

Their voices provided her with a nice white noise for her tired mind. Morgana lay down in the seat, deciding to take advantage of the long ride and comfortable surroundings. For the first time in weeks, Morgana drifted off to sleep with ease.

* * *

The train stopped with a jolt, sending luggage flying from the racks with a loud thud. Morgana's eyes flew open to see Merlin providing a magical barrier from the falling trunks.

She sat up and rubbed her face. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily.

"Dunno," Mordred shrugged. "Train stopped."

The lights cut out and the three heard someone scream from a few compartments away. It got eerily quiet after that, the only sound coming from the rain pattering against the windows. A chill ran up Morgana's spine and she shivered. Her breath formed in a cloud in front of her and she pulled her jacket tighter around her.

"Guys," Mordred whispered, his face pressed against the window. "Something's out there."

Merlin joined Mordred at the window and slowly pulled his wand from his pocket.

"Merlin?" Morgana said slowly.

He turned to her and opened his mouth to speak but he gasped instead.

Doubt, loneliness and fear filled Morgana. They weighed heavy on her, so much so that it was getting harder to breathe. She began to rub her chest, as if the action would wipe away these unwanted feelings. It didn't work, and she began to feel sick to her stomach.

"Morgana?"

She shook her head, ignoring Merlin's voice.

"Morgana, are you okay?"

She shook her head again and closed her eyes. Immediately she regretted it.

_It was cold and dark. She would never feel the warmth of the sun on her skin. She was running again…_

_A tombstone…the tombstone she had tripped on. The name had been blurred before but now it was clear as day._

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Gasping for air, Morgana opened her eyes and for a moment she thought she was imagining things. Merlin stood in front of her with his wand raised at the compartment door. A bright shapeless mist was emanating from the tip of Merlin's wand but Morgana couldn't see anything beyond that. The sudden wave of fear and doubt that had come over her was gone.

A few more moments passed before Merlin lowered his wand. The compartment door clicked shut and Merlin fell to his knees.

"Merlin!" Morgana rushed forward and hugged him from behind, keeping him from falling on his face.

"Dementor," he managed to wheeze. He was breathing as if he had run a great distance. "Chocolate."

Morgana didn't understand. "What?"

Merlin took a deep breath. "Chocolate in my bag."

It was Mordred that retrieved the requested item and presented it to Merlin, who shook his head. "Eat it," he instructed.

The two Slytherins shared a glance before Mordred tore the packaging open. The lights flickered on and the train roared back to life. Morgana helped Merlin into a more comfortable sitting position on the floor, his head resting against the seat.

"Oh wow." Mordred offered Morgana a piece of chocolate, but she waved him off.

"No," Merlin shook his head at her. "Eat."

Frowning, Morgana took the offered chocolate and nibbled on it. Immediately, the chill that lingered in her bones melted away. She looked to Merlin, who was eating some chocolate of his own. "What the hell just happened?"

"Dementors," he repeated.

"Obviously," she drawled sarcastically. "I meant what the hell just happened with you?"

Merlin frowned. "What'd you mean?"

"The Patronus Charm?" she questioned.

"Oh." He blushed. "Dad taught me. Someone had warned him that Dementors would be at the school and he thought I should be able to defend myself."

Morgana gazed at her friend in awe. "I've never seen the Patronus being cast before. I had only read about it in books." She glared at him. "And you make it sound as if it's not a big deal."

Still blushing, Merlin shrugged. "It's just a spell."

"That's  _advanced magic_ ," Morgana retorted. "Just a spell, he says. Honestly."

"So a Patronus repels whatever that thing was?" Mordred asked.

"A Dementor," Morgana supplied. "And yes."

"What's a Dementor doing here?" Mordred demanded.

Merlin looked to Morgana. "Do you reckon they're looking for him on the train?"

"Looking for who?" Mordred asked, even more confused.

Morgana had heard Lucius talking to someone (she couldn't remember who exactly) about the school being under protection this year. The Ministry seemed to think the school was a potential target for an escaped convict.

"Sirius Black," she said, answering Mordred.

He frowned. "Sirius who?"

"Black." she repeated. "He snuck out of Azkaban."

"Azka-what?"

"Azkaban," Merlin said patiently. "It's the wizard prison."

"Oh." Mordred nodded in understanding before asking, "We have one of those?"

Morgana rolled her eyes.

"Yes," Merlin answered. "It was in the Daily Prophet. He was a follower of Voldemort."

Mordred frowned. "And they think he's going to attack the school? For what?"

The obvious answer hung in the air for a long time.

Finally, Mordred muttered, "Potter."

"It's always Potter," Morgana said grimly.

"That bloke's got the worst luck in the world," Mordred commented.

Morgana stared down at the floor and silently agreed.  _If Potter didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all._  She looked up to find Merlin eyeing her with concern on his face. "What?" she asked.

"What happened to you? You started rubbing your chest and then you sort of zoned out on me."

Defensive, Morgana shook her head. "Nothing. I'm fine."

" _Morgana_."

She gave Merlin a warning look, hoping he would back down. He didn't, to her mild surprise. Then again, Merlin could be just as stubborn as she was sometimes.

"Fine," she conceded. "I was…lost in a memory."  _No, that wasn't right_. "A dream."

He frowned. "A dream? Or a vision?"

Morgana nervously wrung her hands. "I…I think it was a dream." He nodded for her to continue. "It was a dream I had before the end of the school year."

"What did you see?" Mordred asked, intrigued.

Morgana swallowed. "I was running and fell over a tombstone. I couldn't read the name on it and there was more to the dream. But when that  _thing_  came in here and I zoned out, I could read the name."

Merlin visibly tensed, bracing himself. "What was the name?"

"Tom," she replied. "Tom Riddle."


	3. Chapter 3

_Tom Riddle._

_Thomas Riddle?_

Merlin felt as though he should know that name; that it held some malicious meaning. For the life of him, he couldn’t recall whether he’d heard the name before or not. It distracted him so badly that he didn’t notice that the feast had begun.

Lisa Turpin, a fellow Ravenclaw, touched his arm and brought him back to reality.

“Are you okay, Merlin?” she asked, her hand still on his arm.

“Hm?”

She smiled at him, amusement dancing in her eyes. “You’re not here at all, are you?”

Merlin cleared his throat and started filling his plate along with everyone else. “I was just thinking.”

“What about?”

Thinking quickly, Merlin lied. “Dementors.”

Lisa and Padma visibly shuddered.

“D’you hear what happened to Potter?” Michael asked, with his mouth full of food.

Anthony groaned. “Shut up, Corner.”

“Potter passed out,” Michael announced. “I heard it looked like he was throwing a fit or something.”

“Seriously?” Merlin looked over his shoulder at the Gryffindor table. Harry sat with his friends looking a bit pale but looking no worse for wear. “I don’t believe you.”

“Swear he did,” Michael exclaimed.

“Shut up,” Anthony repeated. “So what if he did? You were shaking in your boots with the rest of us. So shut it, Corner.”

Terry swiftly changed the subject and the rest of dinner consisted of meaningless small talk. Soon enough, they were herded off to Ravenclaw tower.

“You weren’t really thinking of Dementors were you?” Anthony asked as they dressed for bed.

Merlin glanced around the room and found that everyone else was preoccupied. He leaned forward and whispered, “can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” Anthony said.

Merlin glared before continuing, “Does the name Tom Riddle mean anything to you?”

Anthony scrunched up his brow thoughtfully. “Not really. Why?”

“I think it’s important,” Merlin admitted.

“Dad might know. I could ask him for you,” Anthony offered.

Merlin stiffened. If Tom Riddle was someone important, Merlin didn’t want him to know that some third year at Hogwarts was asking about him. “No thanks. I’ll figure it out.”

Anthony shrugged and got into bed. “Suit yourself. G’night Merlin.”

“Goodnight.”

The lights went out soon after and Merlin spent the rest of the night thinking about Tom Riddle.

* * *

 

Merlin left his Arithmancy class massaging the palm of his hand. The amount of notes he had taken in such a short amount of time made his hand cramp. He wasn’t the only one either.

Anthony and Lisa both were stretching their hand muscles as they excitedly discussed everything they learned in class.

“I didn’t know your birthday number said so much about you,” Lisa admitted.

“Yeah,” Anthony agreed. “I didn’t realize being born on the 8th is such a big deal.”

Lisa turned to Merlin and adjusted the strap on her bag. “What’s your birthday, Merlin?”

“The first,” he answered.

“Of January,” Anthony added.

Lisa gave Merlin a look of admiration. “That’s a really strong number.”

Merlin shrugged. “It’s just a theory.”

“So is Phinis Gestor’s theory of conjuration,” Lisa replied. “But it’s _just_ a theory.”

The three made their way to Hagrid’s hut near the edge of the forest. A crowd of students had gathered in front of the hut and Merlin was pleased to see Morgana among them.

He walked up next to her and nudged her gently. “How was Divination?”

Morgana shrugged. “Trelawney predicted Potter was going to die.”

“Aren’t we all?” Daphne drawled.

Morgana smiled at her housemate before asking, “How was Arithmancy?”

“Uh, interesting,” Merlin answered. “Remind me to show you my notes.”

Anthony groaned. “My hand is still sore.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

“From taking all the notes,” he quickly clarified.

She looked him up and down before giving him a sly grin. “What else would it be sore from?”

Anthony’s face turned bright red. Thankfully, Hagrid beckoned the class to follow him. They gathered around an enclosure and were told to open their books.

“God, this place has gone to the dogs,” said Draco loudly after Hagrid left to fetch whatever creature they were going to study. “That oaf teaching classes, my father will have a fit when I tell him.”

“Shut up, Malfoy,” Harry snapped.

Morgana rolled her eyes. _‘I wish these two would just duel it out and be done with it.’_

Lavender Brown squealed and pointed to the other side of the pen. There were a dozen creatures that looked like a crossbreed between an oversized eagle and a horse.

Lisa’s mouth fell open. “What the-”

“Hippogriffs!” Hagrid exclaimed happily. “Beau’iful aren’ they?”

“Very,” Anthony blurted.

Hagrid explained the hippogriff’s proud nature and asked if anyone wanted to approach one the creatures. Merlin contemplated for a moment and decided that if he was going to have to command dragons one day, he should have no problems with a hippogriff.

He opened his mouth to volunteer when he felt Morgana’s hand on his wrist.

_‘Wait.’_

“I’ll do it,” Harry said before climbing into the pen.

Morgana released Merlin’s wrist and crossed her arms.

 _‘How’d you know he’d volunteer?’_ Merlin asked.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. _‘He’s Harry Potter, the Predictable Boy Who Lived. Honestly Merlin, you’re so insightful one moment and the next you’re fumbling around in the dark.’_

Merlin watched Harry bow to the hippogriff. ‘ _Everyone can’t be as perceptive as the Lady Morgana.’_

She breathed a laugh. _’Was that an attempt at sarcasm?’_

Merlin didn’t respond. The hippogriff bowed back to Harry and the class broke into the applause.

“Well done, Harry,” Hagrid praised. “Well done! You can touch him now. Pat his beak.”

The hippogriff seemed perfectly happy to be patted.

“I think he might let you ride him now.” Hagrid picked the Gryffindor up and placed him on the hippogriff’s back. With a slap to the creature’s rear, Harry was sent flying upwards.

 _‘It’s always him, isn’t it?’_ Merlin thought.

Morgana looked at him seriously. _‘Better him than you.’_

After Harry safely landed, the class was broken into groups to interact with the remaining hippogriffs. Merlin had grouped himself with Anthony, Morgana and Daphne. They had taken the inky black hippogriff named Stormclaw, who seemed fascinated with Daphne’s blonde hair.

“He reminds me of Shadow,” Morgana murmured as she pat the hippogriff’s beak.

“Who’s Shadow?” Anthony asked.

Daphne freed her hair from the hippogriff’s mouth and said, “Shadow’s her horse.”

Anthony frowned at Morgana. “Why do you have a horse?”

Her answer was interrupted by a high pitched scream. They all turned to find Draco rolling around on the ground and Hagrid wrestling a hippogriff back into its leather collar.

Picking Draco up easily, Hagrid ran towards the castle, leaving a trail of blood drops behind.

“Well then,” Daphne sighed. “I suppose that means class is dismissed?”

* * *

 

Morgana didn’t see Draco again until Thursday. His arm was in a sling and he was milking his injury for all it was worth.

“I could have lost my arm,” he claimed loudly at lunch.

“You poor thing,” Pansy cooed. “Does it hurt?”

“I can barely flex my hand without the rest of my arm stinging,” Draco complained.

Pansy started fussing over Draco some more, and Daphne pushed her food away.

“I cannot deal with them right now,” Daphne explained, making a face. “They’ve ruined my appetite.”

“So, question,” Mordred started. “If Draco’s injured, who’s going to be Seeker?”

Morgana shrugged. “His arm should be healed by November.”

The morning of Halloween, and the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, Draco’s arm was still in a sling. Of course, that was not going to stop the Slytherin from going to Hogsmeade.

“I don’t think he should be allowed to go if he’s _injured_ ,” Mordred commented as he walked with Morgana and Daphne to the front courtyard.

“Pick your battles, Mordred,” Morgana advised. “Don’t waste any more time thinking on it.”

Mordred grunted noncommittally.

“What are you and my sister going to do with your afternoon?” Daphne asked, changing the subject.

Mordred shrugged. “Dunno. I’m sure she has something in mind.”

“I’m sure.” Daphne gave Mordred a hard look. “If I see a mark on her neck, I’m going to kill you.”

They left him a sputtering mess in the courtyard, laughing as they made their way to Hogsmeade.

The sweet shop Honeydukes seemed to be on everyone’s list to visit. As such, Morgana and Daphne avoided it. They had decided to go there once the shop wasn’t so full.

Scrivenshaft’s Quill shop was their first stop. Morgana was looking for a new quill and bought one for herself and Mordred, along with new stationary and ink that changed colors to match her mood. They left the shop and planned to go to the bookstore, but Daphne caught sight of the music store and insisted on going inside.

“You go,” Morgana said. “I’ll meet up with you when you’re done.”

The two separated, and Morgana made her way toward Tomes and Scrolls. The post office caught her attention and she found herself drawn to it. She walked inside and smiled at the numerous color-coded owls. Morgana remembered Morgause Duval and her intentions to befriend the Divination professor.

Morgana decided to write her a letter. If she was going find out what Morgause knew, there had to be some kind of relationship and the Slytherin had learned that the subtle art of flattery was a good foundation. Morgana wrote Morgause about Divination; how Trelawney’s class was a joke and how Arithmancy seemed more appealing. Morgana finished the letter asking Morgause her opinion on the matter and how she hoped to hear from her soon. She gave the letter to one of the faster owls and left the post office.

* * *

 

Halloween would not be Halloween if something absolutely unnecessary didn’t happen. In their first year, a troll had broken out of the dungeon. Last year, there were words written in blood on the wall. This year did not disappoint.

Morgana and her dorm mates were already dressed for bed when they were told to return to the Great Hall. They returned sleepy and irate but curious as to what was going on. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses seemed to be in a similar state. Only the Gryffindors seemed to know exactly what was going on. The news spread through the hall like wildfire in hushed conversations.

“Sirius Black cut up the Fat Lady…”

“Tried to break into Gryffindor Tower…”

“…was after Potter.”

Morgana stared up at the enchanted ceiling from her sleeping bag and shook her head. _It is always that boy…_

 _‘So,’_ Merlin said causally _, ‘aside from this impromptu sleepover, how was your Halloween?’_

She grinned and answered _, ‘nice and boring up until an escaped convict broke into the school. You’d think he’d know Potter was at the feast and not in the dorms.’_

_‘Dunno. A few of my friends reckon he lost track of what day it is.’_

_‘Maybe,’_ she replied noncommittally. _‘In other news, I wrote Morgause.’_

 _‘Decided to take my advice after all?’_ He seemed smug.

She rolled her eyes. _‘I might have. I’m thinking of inviting her to the Christmas party.’_

_‘You hate that Christmas party.’_

_‘I do.’_

There was a pause, and then Merlin said, _‘I don’t want to hear you complain about it.’_

_‘Not even a little?’_

_‘No. You did this to yourself.’_

_‘But I’m taking your advice.’_

_‘Don’t wanna hear it.’_

Morgana chuckled out loud, earning a side glance from Daphne who was lying nearby. _‘Fine. No complaints.’_

_‘Glad to hear it. Goodnight Morgana.’_

She smiled to herself. _‘Goodnight Merlin.’_


	4. Chapter 4

“I heard he turned himself into a shrub and snuck in the castle.”

Morgana groaned to herself at the stupidity in the Great Hall. Ever since Halloween, the talk around school had been about Sirius Black and how he got inside the castle. Morgana had hoped these absurd theories would have died down with the first Quidditch match of the season starting tomorrow, but there was no such luck.

She sat at the Slytherin table across from Mordred, whose face was buried in a thick medical textbook.

“Morning,” she greeted. “You must have been up early.”

“Didn’t sleep too well,” he admitted. “Did you know that your nose and ears will keep growing over the course of your life?”

“No I didn’t.” She thought of a certain Ravenclaw and smiled. “I told Merlin he’d grow into his ears eventually.”

Both Slytherins looked over at the Ravenclaw table to catch Merlin just as he sat down. He smiled at them in greeting, but they smiled back for an entirely different reason.

“I won’t tell him if you won’t,” Mordred offered.

 Morgana chuckled as Daphne took a seat next to Mordred.

“If I hear Sirius Black’s name one more time, I’m going to scream,” Daphne said by way of greeting. “I just heard some stupid first year try to convince her friends that Black has disguised himself as a Dementor and they’ve accepted him because he’s soulless.”

Mordred laughed. “Wow.”

“That’s mild considering some of the nonsense I’ve heard,” Morgana replied.

“Want to know what I heard?”

The speaker leaned in close and the warmth from them made Morgana feel uncomfortable. She slowly turned her head to find Draco so close to her face that he might as well have rested his head on her shoulder.

“How about you give her some space,” Mordred said darkly.

Draco sneered. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

Mordred made to stand but Daphne pulled him back down.

“What do you want?” Morgana asked.

“Just wanted to share what I heard.” He smiled smugly and whispered into Morgana’s ear. “I heard your Merlin’s got a girlfriend.”

There was an unpleasant twisting feeling in her chest but Morgana’s face remained uninterested. “Okay.”

His eyes wandered across the room and Morgana couldn’t help but follow his gaze. Sure enough, Merlin sat eating his breakfast, chatting animatedly with Lisa Turpin. Something he said must have been funny because they both started laughing.

“At least she’s pretty,” Draco commented. “I mean, she’s not nearly as pretty as you but he could do much worse, don’t you think?”

Morgana’s mask of indifference was still in place when she asked, “Are you done?”

Draco smiled at her as he stole her toast and took a bite as he walked away. “Enjoy your breakfast,” he said over his shoulder.

“Bastard,” Daphne grumbled.

“You okay?” Mordred asked.

Morgana nodded. “I can still smell his soap.” She shuddered at the thought of the scent staying in her clothes.

_‘That’s not what I meant.’_

Morgana glanced at Mordred, who glared at her knowingly. _‘I’m fine.’_

He regarded her for a moment before giving her a discreet nod. She was fine…honestly. Looking across the room and observing her best friend, however, made her grudgingly admit that Draco had a point. While she knew Draco’s intention was to get on her nerves, she could not argue that there was some sort of attraction between the two Ravenclaws.

Morgana also knew Merlin well enough to know that he probably had no idea that he and Lisa looked like a couple.

A plan began to formulate in her mind. It wouldn’t be enough to tell Merlin about the situation. She would have to show him.

* * *

 

Merlin followed his friends to Herbology and quietly laughed at their argument.

“Gryffindor’s going to win,” Terry insisted. “Hufflepuff doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Dunno,”Michael argued. “Diggory’s made quite the team this year. Grant and I checked out their practice. They look pretty good this year.”

Anthony sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. “Ever since you’ve joined the team, you’ve been ‘Grant’ this and ‘Grant’ that. If you’re going to kiss his ass, at least do it when he’s around. _We_ don’t care.”

Merlin lost his footing on the wet ground and almost fell from laughing. While he wouldn’t have put it so bluntly, Merlin did agree that Michael had gone out of his way to befriend the Quidditch team captain.

“Lay off him, Anthony,” Merlin defended, patting Michael on the back. “He’s a pretty good Chaser…”

“Thank you, Mer-”

“…for a prat.” Merlin added.

Michael laughed and playfully shoved Merlin. “And you’re not a bad Beater for being as scrawny as you are.”

The two of them traded insults until they walked into the greenhouse. Their Slytherin classmates were already there, and as expected, Morgana and Daphne were already paired together at one of the planters. Merlin and Anthony claimed the planter next to them.

Merlin moved to put his bag down when Daphne turned to him, a sweet smile on her face. “Trade you partners?”

Merlin looked at Anthony in question, who only responded with a shrug. “Uh, sure.” They traded places and Merlin heard Daphne greet her new partner with a suggestive, “Hello there.”

“Uh…hi yourself.” Anthony replied.

Merlin pressed his lips together to keep from laughing and caught Morgana’s eye. Amusement danced in her eyes and she bit her lip to keep from smiling. _‘What’s that all about?’_ Merlin asked.

 _‘She likes him,’_ Morgana explained, her smile eventually winning out.

 _‘Really?’_ Merlin turned to watch Daphne shamelessly flirt with Anthony. _‘She’s not very subtle is she?’_

Morgana gave him a wicked grin _. ‘Your girlfriend isn’t very subtle either.’_

“My what?” Merlin asked out loud.

“Settle down everyone, settle down.” Professor Sprout quieted the class. “You have your partner. Continue working on your puffapod.”

Once they were released to work on their own, Merlin repeated his question. “My what?”

 _‘Girlfriend.’_ Morgana answered. _‘Lisa Turpin.’_

Merlin tilted his head to the side in confusion. _‘She’s not my girlfriend.’_

_‘Does she know that?’_

_‘What kind of question is that?’_ he demanded.

Morgana chuckled. “I know she’s not your girlfriend,” she said quietly. “You’re too oblivious to even see that she likes you.”

Merlin frowned. “No she doesn’t.”

“Are you sure about that?” Morgana challenged. “When I tell you to look, just look at her.”

“This is ridiculous,” Merlin insisted.

“If you say so.” Morgana’s eyes flitted in Lisa’s direction and Merlin could tell she was fighting another smile. _‘Look.’_

Slowly, Merlin looked up and made immediate eye contact with Lisa. She grinned shyly and blushed, breaking eye contact with him.

“Told you so,” Morgana said smugly.

“Doesn’t mean anything,” Merlin mumbled. But even as the words left his mouth, Lisa looked back at him and her grin grew wider. He felt his blood rushing to his face as he tried to focus on something, anything, but Lisa.

_‘Doesn’t mean what? What were you saying?’_

_‘Don’t start,’_ Merlin replied sharply.

Morgana burst into a fit of giggles and Merlin grumbled to himself, knowing he’d never hear the end of this.

* * *

 

Being the person he was, Merlin wanted a second opinion on this Lisa issue. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Morgana, but she was a girl. And in his experience, girls had a way of reading far too deep into things. Unfortunately for Merlin, Anthony sided with Morgana.

“It wasn’t obvious to you?” Anthony asked.

Merlin shook his head. “No. It was obvious to _you_?”

Anthony nodded. “Yeah. She’s liked you since last year.”

“What?!” Merlin’s outburst caused everyone in the common room to look at him. “Sorry,” he quickly apologized.

Anthony snorted. “She’s had a crush on you since last year.”

“And you _knew_ this?” Merlin demanded.

“Well yeah,” Anthony admitted. “She asked Padma to ask me if you and Morgana were together. I told her no. So then Padma asked me if you liked Morgana, because if you did, Lisa wasn’t going to bother.”

“What’d you tell her?” Merlin asked.

Anthony shrugged. “I told her I didn’t know. Guess she took that as the go ahead to talk to you.”

Merlin shook his head several times. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you knew.”

Merlin palmed his forehead in frustration. He had been walking around school completely ignorant to a friend’s crush on him and everyone knew about it but him. “I must look like an idiot.”

“On most days,” Anthony laughed.

Merlin glared daggers at him. “For future reference, just tell me.”

“Well now that I know you’re an idiot, I’ll make sure to let you know,” Anthony promised.

The morning of the first Quidditch match of the year greeted everyone with a down pour of rain. Despite this, and the extreme gusts of wind, the match wasn’t cancelled.

“This just makes it more interesting,” Morgana commented on the way to the Quidditch pitch.

They stopped just before they got completely outside and Mordred charmed their clothes to resist rain. The three quickly took their seats in the stands and were soon joined by Daphne and Anthony. Mordred kindly charmed their clothes as well.

Soon they heard the faint sound of Madam Hooch’s whistle to begin the match…and what a pitiful match it was. Both teams appeared to be flying blindly through the rain and they barely pulled together to score a few points. The whistle blew again, calling the players to the ground. Gryffindor was winning, but Hufflepuff was right behind them.

“We’ll be here all night if we have to rely on someone to catch the Snitch in this,” Daphne whined.

The players returned to the air and the match began again. Then, out of nowhere, Diggory took off down the field.

“He’s after the Snitch!” Mordred exclaimed. A group of Hufflepuffs cheered loudly.

As loud as they were, their shouting slowly began to fade. Merlin snapped his fingers next to his ear, ensuring he hadn’t gone deaf. He heard nothing. A familiar chill ran up his spine.

They had converged on the pitch like a swarm of ants on sugar.

Suddenly Merlin felt Morgana grip his arm painfully. He looked at her just in time to see her golden glowing eyes roll into the back of her head. Panic hit him in the stomach as he tried to bring her back to reality.

 _Not now,_ he pleaded. _Please, not right now._

Merlin reached for the wand in his pocket but before he could get a good grip on it a bright silver light flashed across the field. It had the Dementors flying away with haste and Merlin’s cold chill was slowly beginning to disappear.

His attention returned to Morgana, who was staring at him with tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head slowly and covered her mouth with her hand. A single teardrop rolled down her cheek.

“Morgana-”

Someone nearby screamed loudly and several people jumped to their feet. A few were pointing at the sky over the pitch, and Merlin turned to see what caught everyone’s attention. A figure was falling from the sky and didn’t seem to be slowing down.

On instinct, Merlin held out his hand with the intent to stop whoever was falling.

_‘NO.’_

The intensity of the command was not what gave Merlin pause, but the familiarity of the voice. Once he saw the figure begin to slow down, Merlin frantically looked through the crowd for the source of the voice. His eyes were drawn to the Headmaster, whom was clear across the field. He held up not a wand but a finger…and even from such a great distance, Merlin could see the unmistakable golden glow in Dumbledore's usually blue eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin pushed through the crowd of students, his hand firmly holding onto Morgana’s as they left the pitch. While the revelation that Dumbledore has Old Magic was fascinating, Merlin’s main concern was finding out what Morgana saw. It had to be something serious to make her cry and Morgana was not a crier. She also wouldn’t forgive herself for letting her emotions get the best of her in front of everyone.

Mordred, for his part, distracted Daphne and Anthony long enough for Merlin to get a good head start into the castle.

_‘I’ll catch up,’_ Mordred had called after him.

The young Slytherin had yet to do so as Merlin and Morgana hurried through the castle corridors. Finally, Merlin pushed open the door to an abandoned classroom and ushered Morgana inside. She let go of his hand and wandered over to the dirty window to stare at the Black Lake. Merlin stood back and watched her.  He could see the tension in her upper back as she hugged herself. From where he was standing, Merlin couldn’t tell if she was blinking or not.

He’d just decided to join her at the window when he heard footsteps. _‘Mordred?’_

_‘Merlin?’_

Without moving, Merlin magically opened the door for his friend. Mordred went straight to Morgana and touched her arm, making her flinch.

Mordred looked at her pleadingly. “What happened?”

She shook her head and hugged herself tighter.

Merlin slowly made his way to her side and placed a hand on her back. He didn’t know she could be any more tense, but he felt the muscles in her back tighten.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, as he placed his hand in his pockets. In silence, he waited for her to relent.

When she finally did, her voice didn’t sound like her own. It was too soft and too quiet and wrong. Morgana looked him right in the eye and said, “I watched you die.”

Merlin felt as though his heart dropped into his stomach. “What?” he croaked.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she repeated herself. “I watched you die.”

Merlin’s legs felt like jelly as he sat on the floor, unable to stand on his own. _I die?_

“That can’t be right,” Mordred said. “When? How?”

“I don’t know when,” Morgana answered quietly.

“Then how?” Mordred demanded.

Merlin felt like he was going to be sick.

“We were running down one of the hallways,” Morgana started.

“Here?” Mordred questioned.

She nodded. “We were running and I stopped. When he noticed I wasn’t right behind him, he turned around.” Morgana looked sadly at Merlin as she continued. “You came back for me, but before you could reach me something blew out the wall you were standing next to.” She took a shaky breath. “When you landed…you weren’t moving. You weren’t breathing. You weren’t doing anything.”

A thought came to Merlin and he got to his feet. “The last time this happened, you said it was a dream,” Merlin said slowly. “Right?”

Morgana nodded.

“What if,” Merlin conjectured, “this is just another dream, and not a vision?”

“How does that make it any better?” Mordred asked.

“What does death in dreams mean?” Merlin asked Morgana.

“Like I know?”

Merlin shrugged. “You are the Divination expert.”

Morgana rolled her eyes at him, but started pacing and wringing her hands in thought. “The books are pretty vague. A lot is left to interpretation.”

“Then we’ll figure it out,” Merlin said.

That did nothing to appease Morgana and he could hear it in her voice when she drawled, “ _Mer_ lin.”

“Until you find out what it means, it’s just a stupid nightmare.” He tried to smile for her. “If it makes you feel any better, I won’t run through the halls.”

“ _Merlin_.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said firmly, so firmly he actually believed it. “I promise I’m not going anywhere. And I’ll be careful.”

That earned him a sad smile in return and an unexpected hug. They had never hugged before, and Merlin was a bit slow in returning the gesture, but when he did he decided it was…nice?

_Yes. Nice. Nice is the best word for it._

Morgana released him and smiled shyly. “I’m sorry I cried.”

“You cried? I didn’t see you cry. Mordred, did you see Morgana cry?”

“Morgana? Cry? No, I thought it was raining.”

Merlin nodded. “It was raining.”

That earned a small smile from her. “Thanks,” Morgana said with a sniffle.

“Nothing to thank me for,” Merlin insisted as he went to open the classroom door. “We should probably find Anthony and Daphne. Where’d you leave them, Mordred?”

“On the pitch,” Mordred answered, following Morgana into the hall. “Anthony said he was going to walk Daphne to the common room.” He looked to Morgana and added, “Daphne was really worried.”

“What did you tell her?” Morgana asked.

“That you weren’t feeling well… I don’t think she believed me,” Mordred added.

Morgana rolled her eyes. “Lovely.”

Merlin frowned at her. “What?”

She wasn’t able to answer, because as they rounded a corner in the corridor, they ran right into their headmaster. His appearance was so sudden that Merlin leaped back in surprise.

“Sir!” Merlin greeted, perhaps a bit too loudly.

“Mr. Ambrose. Miss LeFay. Mr. Murdoch.” Dumbledore smiled. “Enjoying this rainy day?”

“Oh yes sir,” Mordred smirked. “Perfect weather for Quidditch.”

“Yes indeed,” Dumbledore said with a smile, his eyes twinkling. “Although, I’m sure Gryffindor would disagree with your assessment. Professor McGonagall has taken their loss quite hard.”

_Gryffindor lost?_  Merlin thought. He’d left the field so quickly that he didn’t hear the results. With Harry falling from the sky the way he did, it only made sense that Diggory caught the Snitch.

“How is Harry?” Merlin asked.

“Harry Potter is in the best possible hands,” Dumbledore answered. Something in his tone let Merlin know the headmaster was not just referring to Madam Pomfrey. “He’s expected to make a full recovery, and is being watched over.”

Merlin let the sound of their voices wash over him as they continued the conversation and he let his mind wander. For some reason, he remembered the Gathering…and the mention of a boy.

“Harry Potter is the boy,” Merlin blurted. Luckily, the headmaster was already gone, leaving Morgana and Mordred looking at him in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” Mordred inquired.

“At the Gathering they were talking about a Seer and a boy,” Merlin explained.

Mordred snorted. “Well I think we know who the Seer is.”

“And the boy? Harry Potter?” Morgana frowned.

“Yes. The boy…who lived.” Merlin started pacing in the hall. “It all makes sense.”

“Slow down,” Morgana requested. “What makes sense?”

Merlin stopped pacing to face his two friends. “Because of some prophecy, Morgause was charged with protecting you, the Seer. Dumbledore just said Harry, the Boy, was in good hands and-”

“-that he’s being watched over,” Morgana finished. “By Dumbledore? But that would mean-”

“Dumbledore has Old Magic,” Merlin said with a nod, confirming her suspicions. “He’s in the Old Religion and he’s in charge of protecting Harry Potter: the Boy Who Lived.”

* * *

 

The revelation about Dumbledore and Harry Potter was short lived as Morgana entered the Slytherin common room. Daphne was sitting by the fireplace with her sister reading a book. As Morgana and Mordred approached, Daphne shut her book, got to her feet and left without casting so much as a glance in Morgana’s direction.

Sighing loudly, Morgana took Daphne’s seat and turned to Astoria. “Is she upset?”

“Obviously,” Astoria snipped back. “I shouldn’t be talking to you either.”

“Oh?” Morgana raised an eyebrow at her. “Why’s that?”

Astoria scowled. “You let my sister date some half-blood and didn’t try to stop her.”

“Seriously?” Morgana rolled her eyes. “Have you ever tried to talk your sister out of something? You’d have a better chance of telling Professor Snape to smile.”

Mordred snorted in laughter.

“You still should have done something,” Astoria insisted bitterly. “It’s just as well she’s not talking to you. Dad says you’re a bad influence.”

“And you’re a brat,” Mordred said matter-of-factly.

Astoria gaped at him before storming out of the common room.

“Shouldn’t have said that,” Morgana commented.

“It’s the truth and she knows it.” Mordred sat on the floor and stared into the fire. “She’ll forgive me tomorrow. And I’m sure Daphne will come around.”

* * *

 

Mordred was wrong. In the weeks to come, Daphne didn’t utter a word in Morgana’s or Mordred’s direction. She sat with Tracey or Anthony in class and ate her meals with Astoria. Anthony had tried to figure out why Daphne was giving Morgana the cold shoulder, but he got no answers.

“She just ignored me ‘til I changed the subject,” he told Morgana one morning. “I don’t like it when she’s angry.”

The trip to Hogsmeade just before Christmas didn’t even seem appealing to Morgana anymore. She had been dreading it, and when Merlin suggested going for a walk around the frosty school grounds, she voiced her concern.

“Who am I going to go with?” Morgana asked.

“Me?” Merlin offered. “I know I’m not as exciting as Daphne and all that but I don’t have anyone to go with either.”

“What about Anthony?” Mordred inquired.

Merlin made a face. “He said he’s taking Daphne on a date.”

Morgana sighed. “I suppose it’s just me and you, then.”

“You sound so disappointed,” Merlin grinned.

“No,” she shook her head. “It could be worse. I could be stuck with just Mordred.” The ensuing snowball fight lifted her spirits a bit, but she was still afraid she may have lost her first friend.

* * *

 

Merlin held the door open to the Three Broomsticks for Morgana and she thanked him with a smile. The noise level went up as they stepped inside. Everyone had a drink in their hand and seemed excited about one thing or another.

“Grab us a table,” Merlin suggested. “I’ll get our drinks.”

Morgana gave a nod and found them a table by the fireplace. Merlin appeared shortly after, grinning widely and carrying hot butterbeer.

“I’ve never had this before,” he admitted as he took his seat. “Lisa suggested it.”

Morgana took a sip of her drink to hide her smirk. “Did she? Has she _suggested_ anything else?”

“Please don’t,” Merlin pleaded. “We were doing so well with not bringing that up.”

Morgana chuckled. “Fine then, no teasing. Have you spoken to her about her little crush on you?”

“No,” Merlin insisted. “I don’t intend to. Until she tells me that she likes me, I’m going to pretend she doesn’t.”

“Yes, ignore the problem.” Morgana rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t call it a problem,” Merlin said. “You and Anthony are the only ones who give me grief about it.”

That took Morgana by surprise. “Mordred doesn’t tease you about it?”

“Nope.”

“How big of him.”

Merlin laughed and took another drink of his butterbeer. Morgana did the same and, despite the drink’s warming qualities, she felt a chill from the cold. The door to the bar opened to reveal McGonagall and Flitwick with Hagrid ducking inside shortly after, along with Cornelius Fudge.

“Ugh,” Morgana groaned and turned away quickly.

“What?” Merlin questioned.

_‘Minister of Magic,’_ she explained.

Merlin looked from the minister to Morgana. _‘You know him?’_

She nodded. “He’s been at every Christmas party I can remember.”

Merlin pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. “Impressive.”

Morgana rolled her eyes at him and listened to Fudge invite Madam Rosmerta to join them.

“Well, thank you very much, Minister,” Rosmerta said graciously.

_‘Anything interesting?_ ’ Merlin asked, discretely nodding towards the table of adults.

Morgana shook her head and decided to tune the adults out…until she heard Rosmerta say, “I did hear a rumor.”

_‘I take that back,’_ she told Merlin.

“Do you think Black’s still in the area, Minister?” whispered Madam Rosmerta.

“I’m sure of it,” said Fudge quickly.

“You know that the dementors have searched the while village twice?” said Madam Rosmerta, irritation in her voice. “Scared all my customers away…It’s very bad for business, Minister.”

Fudge’s response was drowned out by a group of boys at a table nearby laughing far too loudly. When the noise died down, Morgana was able to pick the conversation back up at Rosmerta laughing. “Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter.”

Morgana frowned at that. The word around school was that Black was trying to kill Harry Potter. How does one go from close friend to wanting their friend’s child dead?

“You’d have thought Black and Potter were brothers!” Flitwick added. “Inseparable!”

“Of course they were,” said Fudge. “Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him.”

_‘Morgana?’_ Merlin started. _‘You haven’t blinked in a while. What’s going on?’_

Merlin was right, of course. Morgana had been staring wide eyed into space since she heard that Sirius Black and James Potter were friends. _‘Potter and Black were friends.’_

Merlin frowned. ‘ _What?’_

Morgana quickly caught Merlin up and watched as his neutral facial expression deteriorated into a frown. When she tuned back into the conversation, she heard the story of Sirius Black giving up the Potters to the Dark Lord, the tragic death of a man named Peter Pettigrew and the possibility of Voldemort’s return.

Morgana’s tankard of butterbeer was gripped tightly in her hands as the adults rose and took their leave of the Three Broomsticks. Merlin was staring at their wooden table; his frown had become a scowl once Morgana told him the rest of the conversation.

“That’s sick,” he said in a low tone. “No amount of power is worth that.”

Morgana nodded solemnly. Out the corner of her eye, she saw strange movement. Someone had been sitting under a table, and as the young wizard sat in a seat her eyes widened in recognition. “Oh shit.”

Merlin looked up. “What now?”

“Wait for it,” she whispered, watching as the three friends at the table behind the Christmas tree stood.

Merlin stared at her until the trio passed their table. His mouth fell open and Morgana kicked him. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley trudged out the bar and into the cold.

“How much do you reckon he heard?” Merlin asked.

“All of it,” Morgana replied shortly. “They weren’t really all that quiet.”

Merlin sighed deeply. “So, Harry knows Black is his godfather.”

“And that he betrayed his family,” Morgana added. “This will not end well.”


	6. Chapter 6

Morgana wiped the steam of her shower from the mirror and looked at herself. Guests would be arriving soon and she had yet to decide what she was going to wear and what she was going to do with her hair. Sighing, she stepped out of the bathroom and into her bedroom…and was immediately grateful that she was wearing a towel.

Daphne sat on the foot of Morgana's bed with her legs crossed and had look of disinterest on her face. Astoria sat at the vanity, holding up a pair of sapphire earrings to her ears. The younger Greengrass smiled at Morgana through the mirror and said, "You should give me these."

Morgana frowned. "Those are my mother's."

"Were," Astoria swiftly corrected.

Morgana felt her chest get hot with rage, but Daphne reacted first. She stood from the bed, opened the bedroom door and pointed towards the hall.

"Out."

Astoria rolled her eyes and made to leave but was stopped at the door by Daphne's open hand. "Earrings."

Astoria sighed hotly and dropped the earrings in her sister's hand. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Daphne shoved Astoria into the hallway and slammed the door shut. She put the earrings back in the jewelry box on the vanity and turned to Morgana. "Can we talk?"

Morgana crossed her arms over her towel. " _Now_  you want to talk?"

"Morgana-"

"No," she said angrily. "You don't speak to me for over a month, without so much as an explanation why, but  _now_ you want to talk?"

"I was upset."

"You don't say?" Morgana replied dryly.

Daphne glared at her. "You and I have been friends since I can remember. There had never been secrets between us. But now you suddenly have this barrier of boys between us, so forgive me if I was mad about it."

Morgana sighed. She hadn't planned on Merlin whisking her out of the Quidditch stands and she hadn't planned on Mordred trying to cover for them. "They were trying to protect me," she admitted.

"From what? Me?" Daphne looked offended.

"No." Morgana rubbed her temples. Merlin and Mordred's effort to hide her Seer abilities had been in vain and potentially cost her Daphne. To be perfectly honest, that wasn't something Morgana was willing to sacrifice.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked softly.

Morgana took a deep breath and plopped down on the foot of her bed. She pat the space next to her and Daphne sat down, eying Morgana curiously.

"What I am about to tell you can't leave this room," Morgana said seriously. "Promise you'll keep this secret."

Daphne nodded slowly. "I promise."

Morgana cleared her throat and quietly told Daphne all about the Old Religion, Merlin and Mordred. She even told Daphne about being a Seer and awful effect the Dementors had on her. By the time Morgana was done, Daphne was covering her mouth with her hand and her eyes looked as big as saucers.

They sat in silence for a while, staring at the floor; Morgana didn't know what else to say and Daphne seemed to be absorbing all the information.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Morgana said quietly. "I've always been told to keep it a secret, but when I met Merlin… it felt nice to be able to use my magic."

"Who told you that you had to keep it secret?"

"Agravaine."

"He's an idiot. Sorry," Daphne said, in a tone that implied she wasn't sorry at all. "You still shouldn't have kept it from me. I mean, I knew I had to share you but I didn't know we weren't best friends anymore."

Morgana frowned. "But we  _are_  best friends."

Daphne smiled sadly. "Best friends don't keep secrets from each other."

Morgana sat up straighter. "No more secrets." Daphne raised an eyebrow at her, prompting her to add, "I promise."

"Better," Daphne said with a grin. "Now let's get you dressed for this party…and you're wearing those earrings just to take the piss out of Astoria."

* * *

More guests had arrived by the time Morgana descended the stairs. Not only were the Greengrass family in attendance, but the Malfoys, Parkinsons and Patils had arrived early. Morgana's anxiety level rose a bit at the sight of the small crowd.

Agravaine had dropped the party in her lap the second she'd reached him at the train station.

"Since you've altered the guest list," he'd started, "the rest of the planning is yours this year."

She had a few choice words for him but it didn't matter how angry she was, she still had a party to plan. Narcissa was invaluable to Morgana. It seemed as though her godmother knew what Agravaine was up to, and had already taken care of music and food.

"You're going to have to start doing this sooner or later," Narcissa said. Of course, she had a few choice words for Agravaine also.

Everything else was Morgana's responsibility. The guest list had remained the same for years, so she wasn't too concerned about that. The decorations, however, stressed Morgana out. She could not, for the life of her, figure out what to do. Thankfully, Milly the house elf had plenty of experience with the party decorations.

"No worries, Miss," Milly assured her. "No worries at all."

Regardless of Morgana's trust in the house elf, she checked the decorations over as she walked down the last few steps. Everything seemed to be in order, and Morgana made a mental note to thank Milly later.

Narcissa met her at the bottom of the staircase. "You look lovely, my dear."

"Thank you," Morgana replied. "How's everything so far?"

Narcissa smiled and ushered her towards Agravaine and Lucius. "Everything is fine, Morgana."

"Yes," Agravaine agreed. "Everything looks perfect. You did well."

"I had help," Morgana admitted quietly.

"Nonsense," Lucius interjected loudly. "Help or no help, your parents would still be proud."

Coming from anyone else, that statement might have carried some weight, but Morgana had long since decided she didn't like Mr. Malfoy.

"Thank you." Her monotone purposefully lacked sincerity. Any reprimands she may have gotten from Agravaine were cut off at the arrival of more guests.

Narcissa gently pushed Morgana in the direction of the other guests. "Greet everyone. Don't linger too long but don't be rude."

Morgana gave her godmother a tight lipped smile and did as she was told. It seemed as if the more times she circled the room, the more crowded it became. The band arrived and began to play, adding more noise to the room full of people. Two hours had gone by and Morgana was ready for everyone to leave. Instead of kicking everyone out, she decided to get some air. She headed for the French doors leading out to the garden when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

' _Escaping already?'_

Morgause Duval stepped in front of Morgana and greeted her with a smile. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

Morgana smiled back. "Thank you. I'm glad you came."

"I'm not one to turn down an invitation from a LeFay." Morgause nodded her head towards the garden. "May I join you?"

"Of course." Morgana led the way outside and took a deep breath of cold, fresh air. "I'm not a big fan of crowds."

Morgause chuckled. "I can tell. Your mother was the same way."

Curious, Morgana tilted her head to the side. "Was she?"

"Mm hm," Morgause nodded. "She would cling to your father at these parties. It made her a rubbish hostess."

Morgana chuckled. "Maybe she and I have more in common than I thought."

"I don't doubt it." Morgause turned to Morgana with mild concern etched on her face. "Something is troubling you, isn't it?" Morgause inquired.

Morgana shrugged. "This party-"

"No," Morgause interjected. She slowly reached out and began gently massaging Morgana's shoulder. "There's tension that has been there longer than a few days."

Frowning, Morgana asked, "How can you tell?"

"I was training to be a physician after I graduated school," Morgause answered easily.

"And now you teach Divination… what happened?"

"Life." Morgause tilted her head to the side. "Are you going to answer my question or are you going to keep deflecting?"

Morgana sighed. "I use to be able to tell the difference between dreams and visions. I can't seem to do that anymore." She paused for a moment, wondering if she should continue when she heard Morgause encouragingly say, "Go on, sweetheart."

"I had a dream that I lost someone," Morgana said. "They died in front of me."

Morgause hummed thoughtfully. "Death could mean a number of things."

"I know." Morgana was not in the mood to throw theories around. She wanted answers.

"It could mean that you're afraid of losing this person, and not just to death. Death signifies loss in dreams, so perhaps you fear losing this person to something…or someone."

Morgana looked up at Morgause to find a grin creeping across the woman's face. "You needn't worry about losing Merlin. He is very loyal to you; very protective."

"He's my friend," Morgana said unnecessarily.

"I'm well aware of the relationship between you and the young wizard," Morgause chuckled. "The only person that could get in the way of your… _friendship_  with him is you."

Morgana frowned. "What do you-"

"Morgana?" Draco wandered into the garden looking for her. "There you are. I've been – oh." His eyes fell upon Morgause and he tucked his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry. I thought you were alone."

"It's alright, young Malfoy," Morgause spoke up. "I was just telling Morgana how lovely she looks this evening."

The corner of Draco's mouth twitched, as if fighting back a smile, as he said, "She's always rather lovely."

Morgause had enough decency to not laugh out loud, but Morgana could hear her chuckling in her mind. "What did you want me for?" Morgana asked Draco.

Draco cleared his throat. "Mother wanted to see us dance."

"You're joking, right?" Morgana knew before she had even asked that he was indeed serious. It was out of convenience that when the two of them were learning to dance, they were each other's default dance partner. OF course, Draco had found all of this much more amusing than Morgana did.

' _Go on, Morgana,'_ Morgause thought to her _. 'We'll speak again sometime soon,'_

Sighing, Morgana took Draco's offered arm and let him walk her back inside.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked in a voice quiet enough for only him to hear. Draco had the nerve to smirk as he led her to the dance floor, nonverbally answering her question. Morgana quickly scanned the crowd as the band began to play another song. She found Narcissa watching with some witch in green dress robes vying for her attention. Narcissa shushed the woman with her hand and gave Morgana a slight nod.

"I hope you're ready," Draco said lowly.

Morgana raised an eyebrow at him. "Ready for what?"

"Ready for me to spin you across the floor."

They began dancing, to music was very lively, and Draco managed to spin Morgana three times. Despite herself, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Having fun now?" Draco asked.

"I never should have told you I liked spinning," Morgana laughed.

He spun her again and said, "Don't worry. I haven't ruined your Ice Queen reputation."

_Reputation?_

"Everyone will just think I'm the only one who can make you laugh and eventually they'll back off," Draco continued.

"What are you talking about?" Morgana asked.

"Did you not know?" Draco asked before spinning her. "You're on display."

Morgana frowned. "On display for what?"

"Marriage," he answered simply.

Morgana missed a step, and would have fallen, if Draco hadn't compensated. "Just keep dancing," he instructed.

"Marriage?" she demanded. "What do you mean marriage?"

"Agravaine is trying to find you a suitor. Why do you think he had you plan the party?"

"I thought he was upset that I invited someone without asking."

Draco shook his head and spun her twice. "You're a pretty, pureblood, and intelligent girl. Add the ability to organize a party at the last minute and that you're a decent dancer. It only adds to your appeal."

The song ended and he bowed to her. She curtsied and took his offered arm.

"You certainly know a lot about this," Morgana said suspiciously.

Draco smirked. "I would, wouldn't I?" He let that hang in the air between them for a while before adding. "I'm one of your suitors."

"Of course you are," she said dryly. "I'm going to kill Agravaine."

"You might want to kill him before he and my father come to an arrangement," Draco whispered. "They left together not too long ago."

Morgana stopped walking and released his arm. "You're being awfully helpful. What do you want?"

"An addendum to our truce."

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"There are other things in life I want to do aside from getting married and having children. I'm sure you feel the same way." When Morgana didn't argue, Draco continued. "I'm asking that, when my parents and Agravaine are around, you'll pretend to let me court you."

Morgana breathed a laugh. "Yes,  _pretend_  to court me. How do I know what you're saying is even true?"

Draco slipped his hands in his pockets. "I'll bet every galleon to my name that they're in the study. Find out for yourself." With that he turned his back to her and returned to the party.

* * *

"I'm not signing this."

"You didn't even read it."

"I've read enough of it."

Morgana peeked through the crack in the door, watching as Agravaine and Lucius argued back and forth. She didn't get to the study in time to hear what it was they were arguing about, but it sounded as if Draco was right.

"Agravaine  _please_ ," Lucius chided. "A good business man always reads everything before he makes a decision."

"This is about more than just business to me," Agravaine argued. "I was placed in this position because it was believed I would have the LaFey's best interest in mind. This isn't want Gorlois would have wanted."

"Well we will never know that for sure, will we?" Lucius replied coolly. "Gorlois. Is. Not. Here. And if you can't make these decisions on your own, it's only further proof that he shouldn't have put you in this position."

Morgana scowled at him through the door.

"And who should be in this position, Lucius? You?" Agravaine scoffed. "Your only interest is in your own personal gain."

"At least I'm honest about it," Lucius said nonchalantly.

Agravaine sat back in his seat. "And that makes it better somehow?"

"There's no need to question whether I have ulterior motives or not." Lucius took a long drink of some amber liquid and stared at Agravaine over his glass. "You on the other hand-"

"I have no ulterior motives," Agravaine said defensively.

Lucius sighed and stood from his seat. "Read it, all of it, and then get back to me."

Agravaine considered it for a moment before offering a nod.

"Good," Lucius picked up his cane and made for the door. "I'll be looking to hear from you by the first of the year."

Morgana high tailed it away from the door, careful to make sure her heels didn't click across the floor. She hid in one of the guest rooms until she didn't hear footsteps anymore. Quietly as she could, she made her way back to the party. Despite staying for the rest of the festivities, her mind was too focused on what she had overheard to enjoy herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Merlin rolled over on his back for the tenth time. He had stayed up past midnight and quietly celebrated turning fourteen. That had been two hours ago and now, as much as he wanted to go to sleep, he couldn’t.

Sighing loudly, he shifted back to lying on his stomach and buried his face in the pillows. It was no use, Merlin just couldn’t get comfortable. Giving up on his quest to find sleep, Merlin threw the covers off and sat up.

_Hot chocolate sounds really good right now,_ Merlin thought _._ He stretched as he stood and tiptoed down the stairs. A beam of light was coming from the kitchen and Merlin furrowed his brow in curiosity as he got closer. He kept to the shadows as he approached and slowly peeked around the corner into the kitchen.

Merlin was met with the sight of his parents in an embrace. Their foreheads were pressed together and his father was speaking so softly that Merlin couldn’t hear what he was saying. But the more he spoke, the wider his mother’s grin got. When they kissed, it wasn’t like the usual pecks they would give each other when Merlin was around. There was something else going on, and Merlin decided to leave them to it…without hot chocolate.

He was almost to the stairs when he heard his father’s voice in his mind. _‘You should be sleeping.’_

Merlin hung his head, knowing he’d been caught. _‘Fancied some hot chocolate.’_

_‘Then come get some.’_

Merlin headed back to the kitchen, feeling embarrassed about interrupting his parents’ intimate moment. “Evening,” he greeted.

Hunith chuckled. “You mean good morning.”

“How long have you been awake?” Balinor asked.

Merlin shrugged. “Uh…yesterday.”

“You haven’t been to sleep yet?” Hunith frowned as her son shook his head. “Why not?”

Balinor answered for him. “Restless.”

Merlin nodded.

Balinor stroked his beard in thought. “Maybe I’ll take you with me.”

“Where?” Hunith asked.

“Just the Sanctuary,” Balinor said.

Hunith frowned again. “Something wrong?”

“No,” Balinor shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean something’s not going on. You know how they get this time of year.”

Hunith sighed. “True. Just be careful.”

Balinor smiled. “Of course.” To his son he said, “Go get dressed.”

Completely lost, and still lacking hot chocolate, Merlin left to get dressed and met his father in the garden. “Sanctuary?” Merlin asked.

“Dragon Sanctuary in Romania,” Balinor answered. He held out his hand, and Merlin took a deep breath before he grabbed it.

* * *

 

Merlin shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around him. It was much colder in Romania than back home. “So what’re we doing-”

Merlin’s words were cut off by a mighty roar. It was so loud that both Merlin and Balinor covered their ears and tried to keep their footing as the ground shook. As soon as everything went still, Balinor bolted for the forest. Merlin hurried after him.

There was another rumble and Merlin stumbled. “Dad!” he shouted. When there was no reply he called out again. “DAD!”

“YIELD!”

_Dad?_ Merlin ran in the direction of his father’s voice. There was a clearing up ahead and Merlin shouted for his father again.

“Stay back, son!”

Merlin skidded to a halt at the edge of the clearing, taking in the scene before him. Balinor stood in the center of the clearing and was staring up at the sky…at a pair of fighting dragons.

“Whoa.” Merlin stared up at the dragons in complete awe…until one of them lunged for the other.

Another roar ripped through the night as the red dragon bit the brown one.

“SARETH,” Balinor shouted.

The brown dragon retaliated by tackling the red dragon to the ground, the combined force of which knocked Merlin off his feet.

“KILGARRAH! YIELD!”

Merlin scrambled to his feet and watched in horror as his father stood between the two beasts.

“DAD!”

“I said YIELD!” Balinor commanded the brown dragon, ignoring his son’s call.

The brown dragon, Kilgarrah, snarled at the red dragon, but took a step away from Balinor. The red dragon was clearly injured, but still had some fight in it. It breathed fire at Kilgarrah, with Balinor in the middle of it.

Merlin fell to his knees as his father was engulfed in flames. Kilgarrah ignored the fire and went for the red dragon’s neck. Merlin could hear the scales and bones fracture under the force of Kilgarrah’s bite and there was a loud snapping noise when the red dragon’s head was forced into an unnatural position. Kilgarrah unceremoniously let the red dragon go, and it lay motionless as he sounded his victory. He took a step back to reveal Balinor, who was hanging his head.

“That’s enough, old friend,” he said solemnly. “One of our brothers is dead.”

“We will mourn in the morning.”

Merlin’s mouth fell open. _Dragons can talk?_ Slowly, Merlin left his place at the forest’s edge to stand by his father. “I thought it killed you.”

“Dragon’s fire can’t kill a Dragonlord,” Balinor replied. He turned to Kilgarrah and asked sternly, “Please tell me you have a reason for this.”

The corners of the dragon’s mouth turned upwards in a smile. “I do.”

“And?”

Kilgarrah spread his wings. “You question my judgment?”

Balinor rubbed his face in frustration. “If I recall correctly, there are only five Scandinavian Red Snouts. Sareth is one of those five. By killing him, they’re closer to extinction. So yes, I’m questioning your judgment.”

Merlin stared wide eyed at his father. He knew his father was a Dragonlord, but to speak so boldly to something that could easily kill them both made Merlin wonder how powerful his father really was.

Kilgarrah folded his wings back. “Then perhaps Sareth should have been breeding instead of challenging me.”

“He challenged you.” Balinor no longer sounded irritated, but curious.

Kilgarrah gave a short nod.

A twig snapped behind Merlin and he spun around to find a group of wizards emerge from the forest.

Balinor sighed. “I’ll meet you before the dawn,” he said to the dragon.

Kilgarrah nodded again and took flight.

As the wizards drew closer, Balinor put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Tired yet?”

At a loss for words, Merlin could only shake his head.

* * *

 

Once again, Merlin found himself following his father through the forest. Thankfully, their pace was much more leisurely than when they first got to the Sanctuary.

“So…those men back there…”

“Dragon keepers,” Balinor answered. “Some of them like to be called Dragonologists.”

“They sound like snobs,” Merlin commented.

Balinor laughed. “They can be, yes.” He stopped walking and looked around before saying, “Reveal yourself.”

Merlin yelped when a golden orb appeared next to him. It was Kilgarrah’s eye.

“Do not fear me, Young Ambrose,” the dragon chuckled. “I will not harm you.”

“Good to know,” Merlin replied, trying to slow his breathing.

“You said Sareth challenged you,” Balinor started. “Why?”

“Dark times lay ahead,” Kilgarrah said. “Order must be kept.”

Balinor sighed. “Speak plainly.”

“You know of what I speak, Balinor.”

“What does Voldemort’s return have to do with Sareth?” Balinor asked.

Kilgarrah was quiet as his gaze shifted from Balinor to Merlin, and the young wizard felt most uncomfortable under the dragon’s glare.

“Sareth wished for change,” the dragon answered. “This change must not be brought on the back of war.”

“War?” Merlin spoke up. “What war?”

“The war between Death Eaters and everyone else,” Balinor answered. “So Sareth thought Voldemort could help change things… and by killing you, the others would follow his lead.”

Kilgarrah nodded. “He will not be the last to challenge me.”

Balinor stroked his beard. “Perhaps…perhaps you should do some rounds and see how our kin is doing.”

Kilgarrah laughed. “Your concern is appreciated but unnecessary. I am safe here, as I have always been.”

“Then do it as a favor to me,” Balinor replied. “Find out what they know about Voldemort…and any keepers that may be inclined to join him.”

Kilgarrah sighed. “Of course.”

“Thank you old friend,” Balinor said sincerely. “When I brought Merlin here, I wasn’t expecting all this.”

“I’m sure Merlin was not either,” Kilgarrah said with a chuckle. He looked at Merlin, his eyes lacking mirth. “I expect that I’ll be seeing you more often, young wizard.”

“Uh… sure,” Merlin managed to say, still intimidated by the size of Kilgarrah’s teeth.

Balinor placed a heavy hand on Merlin’s shoulder and guided him out of the forest.

“Dad?”

“Hm?”

“We’re not going to tell mom about this, right?”

“That goes without saying, son.”

Merlin nodded. “Just making sure.”


	8. Chapter 8

Upon their return to school on Sunday, they decided to go for a walk around the school grounds where Merlin told Morgana and Mordred about his eventful birthday. He had just explained how he and his father agreed to leave his mother in the dark about the whole thing when Morgana broke into a fit of laughter.

“I really don’t see what’s so funny,” Merlin said earnestly.

“Oh come on,” Morgana managed to say. “Your father is this powerful Dragonlord who can stand in between two fighting dragons, but won’t tell his wife he’d done so out of fear.”

Mordred snorted, and immediately covered his face with his hand. “Yeah, when you put it like that.”

“Laugh all you want,” Merlin said with a smile. “But she can get scary when she wants to.”

“He says that,” Morgana mumbled to Mordred, “and she’s probably the sweetest woman in the world.”

Mordred shrugged. “I don’t know. My dad always said that a key to a happy marriage is communication, compromise and a healthy fear of your wife.”

Both Merlin and Morgana laughed at that.

“Anything else happen on your holiday, Merlin?” Mordred asked.

Merlin shook his head. “No, that was enough. What about you Morgana? How was the party?”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Of course, in saying that, Merlin and Mordred felt obligated to poke and pry until she told them what happened. Merlin was at a loss for words; Mordred was not.

“You’re fourteen!” he exclaimed. “How can they force you into courtship at _fourteen_?! I mean, honestly. That’s _ridiculous_. And then, on top of that, being courted by _Draco Malfoy!_ Of all people…I can’t believe you danced with him. What kind of life-”

“Are you done?” Morgana interrupted, irritation in her tone. “I _do_ know how awful this is, there’s no reason to reiterate.”

“Sorry,” Mordred said swiftly. “It just…”

“Sucks,” Merlin supplied. “The word you’re looking for is ‘sucks’.”

“I _know_ that,” Morgana groaned. “But I think Draco and I worked it out.”

Mordred frowned. “I don’t like it.”

Merlin didn’t like it either. The entire situation sucked. Morgana could do much better than Draco Malfoy…or anyone else for that matter.

“It’s only a temporary solution,” Morgana replied. “There’s nothing else I can do until I’m of age. So, he and I are just going to wait it out.”

“I still don’t like it,” Mordred insisted.

“Give it a rest Mordred,” Merlin said softly. “Have you spoken to Agravaine about this?”

Morgana shook her head. “He and I haven’t spoken since the party. I have nothing to say.”

Merlin narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Let me rephrase: I have nothing _nice_ to say.”

Merlin laughed. “That’s my girl.”

* * *

 

Classes resumed the next day, and something didn’t seem quite right. All through Arithmancy Merlin had been distracted, trying to figure out what was wrong. It wasn’t until Lisa said something after class that he realized what it was.

“Granger was awful quiet today,” she whispered to Merlin and Anthony. Lisa was right. Hermione, the brightest witch in their year, hadn’t raised her hand one time during class.

“Maybe she’s sick,” Anthony reasoned.

Merlin shook his head. “It’s got to be something else.”

That ‘something else’ became apparent during Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione had grouped herself with Parvati and Lavender instead of Harry and Ron.

“How odd,” Merlin commented as he fed the fire in front of him. Professor Hagrid had supplied a huge bonfire filled with fire-loving salamanders.

“You should have seen her in Divination this morning,” Morgana whispered.

Merlin frowned. “Divination? She was in Arithmancy with me this morning.”

“Uh, no,” Morgana shook her head. “She was in class with me.”

“How can one person be in two places at once?” he challenged.

Morgana glared at him. “Why don’t you ask her?”

Merlin sighed, refusing to argue with Morgana. “So what was she doing in class?”

“Nothing,” Morgana answered. “No notes, no participation. Nothing. It was a sad sight.”

“Wonder what happened.”

Morgana pressed her lips together, as if she was censoring herself. “Well _Mer_ lin, if I were to guess, it would be that she and her boys had a fight.”

“Think so?” Merlin watched Hermione through the flames of the bonfire. She would read from the book in her lap, study the flames, and return to her book. Merlin’s gaze shifted to Ron and Harry. Ron shot Hermione irritated looks while Harry spoke to Professor Hagrid. Not once did Hermione look in their direction.

“Okay, I see it now,” Merlin admitted.

Morgana seemed pleased. “Very good.”

Merlin glared at her and changed the subject. “I won’t be able to study tonight.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Quidditch practice.”

“You’ll need it.”

Merlin gave her an odd look. “Oh really? Any _insight_ on the outcome of the Quidditch match?”

Morgana gave him her ‘I-know-something-you-don’t-know’ grin. It was absolutely maddening. “I don’t want to spoil it.”

He rolled his eyes at her, convinced that she didn’t know anything.

* * *

 

Morgana took no joy in Merlin’s crestfallen face after Ravenclaw lost against Slytherin. It was a close game and everyone had played their hardest. In the end it all came down to the Seekers, and Draco had the better broom. Chang’s Comet Two-Sixty just could not keep up with Draco’s Nimbus Two-Thousand One.

“Maybe you’ll have more luck against Gryffindor?” Morgana said during one of their study sessions.

Merlin glared at her over his Ancient Runes textbook. “You don’t sound very confident.”

Morgana shrugged. “Potter does have a Firebolt…”

“He’s got a _what_!?” Merlin exclaimed.

Madam Pince rounded a bookcase and pressed a finger to her lips. “Sssssssshhhhhhh!”

Merlin winced. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Morgana stifled her laughter as Pince stared at them. Once she was gone, Morgana began to elaborate. “He got it for Christmas, but didn’t know who sent it. It had no name attached. _Someone_ told McGonagall.”

“Someone?” Merlin asked.

Slowly, Morgana tilted her head to the side, pointing at a certain Gryffindor sitting alone in the corner with textbooks and parchment everywhere. She watched Merlin glance across the room and look back, understanding in his eyes.

“What happened?” he asked.

“McGonagall took the broom,” Morgana finished. “Might be jinxes on it or something so she’s examining it.”

Merlin nodded slowly. “That’s why they’re not talking to her…how do you know all this?”

Morgana just smiled. All kinds of things can be learned in the girl’s bathroom. But Merlin didn’t need to know that. “I’m that good.”

“Uh huh,” he said in monotone, unconvinced. “So there’s a chance that he won’t have his broom before the match.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being optimistic,” she said, refusing to make eye contact with him. Deep down, she knew Ravenclaw was going to lose. Cho Chang wasn’t a bad Seeker by any means, but Potter was naturally talented. Coupled with his new broomstick, that was surely to be returned before the match, and it would be a miracle if Ravenclaw didn’t get utterly destroyed.

“You can’t even look at me,” Merlin commented.

“I don’t want to be the one to crush your spirits.” Morgana went to read from her Transfiguration book when it suddenly snapped shut. She looked up to find Merlin’s eyes returning to their natural color, an evil grin on his face. “I hate you.”

He was still grinning when he replied simply, “Liar.”

* * *

 

Morgana’s instincts were, unfortunately, correct. While Gryffindor didn’t exactly decimate Ravenclaw, they weren’t merciful either. Potter had snatched the Snitch from under Chang’s nose…but not before scaring the life out of Draco. He, along with a few other Slytherin’s from the Quidditch team, had dressed up as Dementors and tried to scare Potter.  Of course, no one knew the Gryffindor had his wand, or that he knew the Patronus Charm.

“That was impressive,” Mordred mused, as they walked to meet up with Merlin, who’d gone to the locker room to clean up and change. “I had only seen Merlin and Dumbledore cast a Patronus, and they’re both powerful wizards.”

Morgana pursed her lips in thought. Dumbledore was probably the most powerful wizard of their time and Merlin…well Merlin was exceptional. “I think it would be safe to lump Potter in with them.”

“What? Because he can cast a Patronus?”

Morgana shrugged. “He did survive a Killing Curse.”

“That was luck,” Mordred said.

“I’m beginning to think it was a bit more than luck,” Morgana mumbled.

Merlin stepped out of the locker room at that moment and joined them.

“How’s our Merlin?” Mordred asked.

Merlin shrugged. “I was forewarned, so I’ve accepted it.”

“Sorry,” Morgana said sincerely.

Merlin shrugged again, this time with a smile. “’S alright. Now I get to see your look of disappointment when Gryffindor beats Slytherin.”

Morgana rolled her eyes at him. “I will not give you that satisfaction.”

They headed towards the Black Lake and sat down. Morgana took a deep cleansing breath, enjoying the comfortable silence and having her boys sitting on either side of her. She hadn’t realized how much she missed them over break until now.

“Hey, Merlin?” Mordred questioned.

“Hm?”

“Do you think you could teach me the Patronus Charm?”

Morgana raised an eyebrow at Mordred. He shrugged in response. She then turned to Merlin, who also shrugged.

“Sure. You’ve got your wand?”

Mordred nodded and stood up. Morgana spent the rest of the afternoon watching her boys practice magic and trying to think of a happy memory of her own.


	9. Chapter 9

Peace and quiet did not last long at Hogwarts. The very same night of the match, Sirius Black successfully broke into Gryffindor Tower. Someone had left a list of Gryffindor passwords lying about, and Black had gotten hold of it. That someone was Neville Longbottom.

Morgana felt bad for him the next morning, watching as he sprinted out of the Great Hall with a Howler in his hands that quickly grew redder and redder. He did seem genuinely forgetful. That did not stop her housemates from laughing loudly as the Howler exploded into a harsh voice just outside the Great Hall.

“Ouch,” Mordred commented. “I’m so glad my parents are Muggles.”

Morgana nodded in agreement as Neville re-entered the hall. He looked completely crestfallen with his slumped shoulders and head hanging in shame. “That has got to be the most embarrassing thing in the world,” she said, watching Draco imitate the unfortunate Gryffindor.

* * *

 

“You have really soft hands.”

Morgana looked up from her friend’s palm, frowning in confusion. “What?”

“Your hands are soft,” Daphne repeated, wiggling her fingers. “They’re absolutely freezing, though.”

Morgana sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to concentrate. Do you mind?”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “Fine. Read my life.”

Tilting Daphne’s hand from side to side, Morgana examined the lines of her palm. “Well…your heart line is short, which means you’re selfish.”

Daphne looked unimpressed. “I know that already.”

“Your head line is long and deep,” Morgana continued. She flipped through _Unfogging the Future._  “That’s supposed to mean you’re sensible and have a good memory.”

“What about my life line?” Daphne asked, wiggling her fingers again.

Morgana turned a few more pages in her textbook but stopped when she heard a shriek. Everyone’s attention was on Professor Trelawney, who was holding Harry Potter’s hand with horror written on her face.

“You have the shortest life line I’ve ever seen!” she declared dramatically.

Harry snatched his hand back and recoiled in his chair. At this angle, Morgana could see Hermione’s face, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Hermione was rolling her eyes so hard that it looked like it hurt.

“First the Grim, now his Life Line,” Draco snickered behind Morgana. “He ought to just kill himself and be done with it.”

Morgana turned to glare at him in her seat. Goyle, Crabbe and Parkinson were all trying to stifle their laughter.

“What?” Draco asked, attempting to look innocent.

“You’re going to learn to keep your mouth shut one day,” she warned him quietly.

Of course, he didn’t listen. His comeuppance came swiftly and in the form of Hermione Granger. Draco had been making rude comments about Professor Hagrid all through Care of Magical Creatures. Class was over and everyone was heading back inside when it happened. What Draco said to set Hermione off, Morgana had not heard. She did, however, hear Hermione’s hand connect with Draco’s face. It was enough to send him staggering backwards.

“Don’t you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you _foul_ – you _evil_ \- ”

Morgana’s mouth fell open in shock while Merlin shouted a surprised, “OH!”

Hermione was so angry, she was shaking.

“Hermione!” Ron tried to grab for his friend, but she was having none of it. Hermione shoved him off and pulled her wand.

 “Whoa, Hermione,” Merlin called out. “That’s not necessary.”

Hermione didn’t lower her wand, but there was a moment of hesitation on her part that Morgana took advantage of.

“Leave,” Morgana commanded. “Get out of here, Draco. Go to class. Now.”

Draco backed away from Hermione before turning and sprinting down the hall. Crabbe and Goyle followed.

Hermione tucked her wand into her robes and turned to Morgana. She smiled guiltily. “That felt good.”

Morgana smirked. “He had it coming.”

“What if he reports it?” Ron asked, concerned. “You could get in real trouble, Hermione.”

“Don’t worry,” Morgana said. “I’ll handle it.”

* * *

 

The opportunity to speak to Draco didn’t present itself until it was almost midnight. It was only Morgana, Draco and some fifth year studying in the common room. The fifth year yawned loudly, gathered their books and left the two alone.

“I’m assuming you wanted to speak to me?”

Morgana looked up from her book. Draco was sitting at one of the tables with his schoolwork pushed aside, giving her his full attention. His eyes followed her as she closed her book and slowly moved to sit next to him.

“I don’t like saying ‘I told you so,’” she said. “But I do recall a previous conversation in which I warned you about keeping your mouth shut.”

He sneered. “When my father hears about what that filthy Mud--”

“Don’t say that word,” Morgana interrupted smoothly. “It’s rude and beneath you. And your father’s not going to hear about it.”

“Oh he’s not?”

Morgana shook her head. “No, he’s not.”  She leaned forward, placing her elbow on the back of his chair and rested her head on her arm. “I’d be very disappointed if he found out.”

Draco stared at her for a long time and then, in the briefest moment, just a fraction of a second, Morgana noticed his gaze flit to her mouth. She licked her lips and smirked. “You wouldn’t want to disappoint me, would you?”

 “Do you really think you can try to seduce me into silence?” If his labored breathing and dilated pupils were any indication…

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, making sure to breathe on his neck, “Yes I do, because I just did.” His face and neck were both beet red as Morgana stood and grabbed her book. “Goodnight Draco.”

* * *

 

Merlin didn’t know how Morgana dealt with Draco, but the boy steered clear of Hermione. He didn’t even look in her direction. Merlin _did_ notice that there were a few times Merlin caught Draco staring at Morgana, which prompted him to ask Morgana what was going on.

“What did you do to him?” Merlin meant for it to come off as a joke. He was not expecting her to blush.

“Well,” she bit her lip in hesitation, “I might have tricked him a little bit.”

Merlin frowned. “Tricked him into what?”

She wouldn’t answer.

Thankfully, Draco’s focus began to shift away from Morgana as the final Quidditch match approached. The tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin was at an all-time high. Fights had broken out in the hallways between classes and students from both houses had ended up in the hospital wing. Harry Potter was under guard at all times in the event some Slytherin thought it would be a good idea to try and take him out.

“Best to get this over with,” Anthony said the morning of the match. “I’d like to be able to go to class without getting caught in the crossfire.”

No one could ask for better weather to play Quidditch. The ground was hard for a quick kick-off, the sun improved visibility and there was no wind to interfere with flying. The entire school filled the stands, with three quarters wearing something scarlet. Everyone else wore green including Daphne, Mordred and Morgana. They boldly sat with Merlin and Anthony in a sea of scarlet.

“I like your green,” Merlin told his best friend. “It’ll bring out the pain in your eyes when you lose.”

Morgana laughed. “Tough talk from someone who’s not even in the running for the Quidditch cup.”

“Children,” Mordred cut in. “Am I going to have to separate you two?”

“What?” Merlin held out his hands innocently. “I was just encouraging Morgana to take loss gracefully.”

If looks could kill, Merlin would have been nothing but ash and dust. Gratefully, Morgana’s dangerous smile only gave him an unsettling feeling in his chest. “Perhaps you could teach me, since you have so much experience.”

Merlin opened his mouth to reply when the crowd erupted into applause. The team captains shook hands and with a blow of Madam Hooch’s whistle the game began.

As usual, Lee Jordan was doing commentary for the game. “And it’s Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinner of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no – Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field – OH- nice Bludger work by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it’s caught by Johnson. Gryffindor back in possession, come on Angelina – nice swerve around Montague - duck Angelina that’s a Bludger! AND SHE SCORES! TEN – ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!” Lee’s commentary was one of Merlin’s favorite things about Quidditch. The proud Gryffindor was so honest and unrepentantly biased.

Angelina was in the middle of celebrating when Marcus Flint, Slytherin’s team captain and Chaser, crashed into her.

 “Sorry!” Flint said as the crowd booed him. “I didn’t see her!”

Fred Weasley threw his Beater’s club at the back of Flint’s head, smashing his face into his broomstick handle and making his nose gush blood.

“Well we knew things were going to get dirty,” Anthony commented.

Dirty was an understatement. This Quidditch match would go down in Merlin’s memory as the most violent match he’d ever seen. Beaters were using their clubs on players instead of Bludgers.

“You’d think they were trying to kill each other,” Mordred said with a shake of his head.

“They are,” Merlin responded grimly.

“Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I’ve never seen such tactics!” Madam Hooch screeched. Draco had grabbed Harry’s broom just as he was reaching for the Snitch.

 _‘Still want Slytherin to win?’_ Merlin asked Morgana.

She shook her head. _‘I never wanted us to win.”_

He raised an eyebrow at that. _‘Why not?’_

 _‘Draco still needs to be humbled. What better way than to lose to his rival in front of the whole school?’_ she answered as Alicia missed the penalty shot.

Merlin rolled his eyes at her. _‘You’re never going to tell me what you did to him are you?’_

_‘Why do you want to know so badly?’_

_‘Curious.’_

Every Slytherin player, apart from Draco, was speeding towards Angelina in an attempt to block her. Harry charged towards them, forcing them to disperse in order to avoid collision. He paused for a moment before zooming towards Draco, who was mid dive and reaching for the Snitch.

_‘Remember how I told you that I tricked him?’_

_‘Uh huh,’_ Merlin replied, half paying attention.

_‘And you asked me what I tricked him into.’_

_‘Uh huh.’_

Harry knocked Draco’s hands out of the way and –

_‘I might have tricked him into thinking I was going to kiss him.’_

Merlin turned to look at Morgana just before Harry’s hand closed around the Snitch. “What?” His question was drowned out by an explosion of noise.

“POTTER’S GOT IT!” Lee shouted. “POTTER’S GOT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE CUP!”

Fans cheered loudly and charged the field as Gryffindor’s team celebrated their victory. Slytherin booed loudly as Harry was given the Quiddtich Cup, holding it up for everyone to see.

And all this was lost on Merlin, who was still staring at Morgana in confusion, unsure of how to feel.


	10. Chapter 10

The idea of Morgana kissing Draco stayed on Merlin's mind for days. It bothered him, and it bothered him that he was so bothered. He tried to figure out why he cared so much but came to no real conclusions. It was distracting and he couldn't afford distractions right now. Exams had already started and this unpleasantness made it hard to focus. Even now, as he was supposed to be studying for Arithmancy, Merlin couldn't decide if he should ask Morgana for exact details or if he would rather remain ignorant.

A snap of Morgana's fingers in front of his face brought Merlin back to reality.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he lied.

Morgana frowned suspiciously at him. "Mordred asked you a question," she said.

"Oh. Sorry," Merlin mumbled. "What's going on?" he asked Mordred.

Mordred glanced between his two friends before asking Merlin, "Do you like Ancient Runes?"

"It's alright," Merlin shrugged. "Why?"

"I was thinking about taking it next year."

"Wouldn't you rather take Divination?" Merlin asked cheekily.

"I'll pass," Mordred replied swiftly. "Morgana can be in charge of tea leaves and crystal balls."

"Ahem."

The three students looked up to find Madam Pince giving them a hard glare. "Almost curfew." She didn't need to continue, they knew they were being put out. They gathered their things and left the library.

Mordred groaned. "I've still got to study for my potions exam."

Morgana shook her head and yawned. "You need to sleep."

"Says you," Mordred shot back. "You've been up longer than I have."

Merlin frowned at them. "How long have you been awake?"

"Almost two days," Morgana said nonchalantly. "Mordred's been up since yesterday."

"Why?" Merlin asked.

"Headache." Morgana explained. "It started in my neck and it's been working its way to my eyes. This one," Morgana pointed to Mordred, "is avoiding nightmares."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at Mordred, who scowled back. "I'd rather not talk about it, thank you."

"There's a potion for that. I can make you one," Merlin offered.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded. "I can make it tonight and give it to you tomorrow."

Mordred smiled. "That would be fantastic."

"You know, there are potions for headaches, too," Merlin started.

Morgana sighed. "Nothing helps. You know that."

Merlin shrugged. "Yes, well, I thought I'd offer."

She gently squeezed his arm. "Thanks though. Goodnight Merlin."

They parted ways and Merlin carried on towards Ravenclaw Tower.

He was halfway up a set of stairs when they began to move. Startled, he held onto the rail until the stairs was done moving. He ran the rest of the way up and turned to glare at the stairs before heading back towards the common room. At least, he thought he was going towards the common room. The pictures on the walls weren't familiar and he could have sworn he'd walked past that suit of armor twice before…

 _Oh no._  Panic was about to set in but Merlin forced himself to remain calm.  _Calm down. Do not panic. No one ever solved their problems by panicking._  He turned down another corridor and, not watching his step, tripped over something rather large.

"Ow!"

Merlin stumbled and looked down to find Neville Longbottom sitting in the middle of the hallway. "Sorry! I didn't see you."

"It's ok." The Gryffindor stood and dusted off his pants.

"What are you doing out here?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know the password."

"Password?" Merlin frowned. "Password to what?"

"Gryffindor Tower," Neville answered, pointing at the painting of the Fat Lady behind him. "No one is allowed to tell me the password. I, uh…I forget things, so I make lists." He shrugged shyly.

"Nothing wrong with lists, mate," Merlin said absently, mapping out the castle in his head.

"It is if it gets Sirius Black in the common room."

"Yeah…" Merlin grimaced. "That was bad. What are you doing out here so late?"

Neville toed at the floor. "I got lost after my detention with Professor Snape. No one was around to let me in so I've been sitting here, waiting."

"Did the stairs move on you too?"

Neville nodded. "I hate it when they do that. Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah." Merlin glanced down the hall. "I think I know where to go now."

"Oh, well, that's good." Neville sat down on the floor.

Merlin looked down the hall he need to go down, but didn't move. Leaving Neville alone didn't feel right. "So… you're just going to sit here and wait?"

Neville nodded. "Yup."

Merlin shook his head. "I'm not leaving you in the hall by yourself. You're coming to the common room with me." He offered his hand to help Neville up. "Come on."

It took some persuasion, but Neville eventually followed Merlin to Ravenclaw Tower.

"I don't think I should be here," Neville whispered as they entered the common room. "Won't I get in trouble?"

"Who would tell?" Merlin replied.

Neville looked at Merlin as if he were crazy. "It's not exactly empty in here."

The common room was full of students, many of which had their noses in books. Anthony sat with Terry and Michael by the fireplace, engaged in a game of chess.

"You'll be fine," Merlin assured Neville, and led the way to his friends.

Michael noticed them first. "Looks like Merlin brought home a stray."

"You all know Neville," Merlin said, ignoring Michael. "He'll be joining us this evening."

Michael moved his book bag off the couch and onto the floor to make room for someone to sit before going back to his reading. Merlin plopped down and dug through his bag for his Potions book.

Anthony smiled at Neville politely. "Play any chess?" he asked.

Neville shook his head. "Don't know how. I've watched Ron play. He seems really good."

"Once I beat Terry, I can teach you."

"Who says you're going to beat me?" Terry asked.

"My queen." Anthony moved one of his pieces and said, "Checkmate."

Terry grit his teeth and rose out of his chair. "Every time. Every single time."

Anthony chuckled and moved the chess pieces to their original positions. "You are getting better... you're just not as good as me."

Terry scowled. "That's it, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"You can't be a sore winner," Merlin told his friend.

Anthony was still laughing as Neville sat opposite him. "He is getting better, though. Alright Neville, let's go over the basics."

Merlin went to the dorm to grab his cauldron from his trunk and returned to begin brewing Mordred and Morgana's potions.

* * *

Yawning, Merlin corked the Sleeping Draught and stretched his back. The clock over the fireplace said it was just after midnight, and Neville and Anthony were still playing chess.

"Checkmate," Anthony said, pleased. "Not bad, Neville."

Despite losing, Neville smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. I'll keep practicing."

The door to the common room opened and revealed Professor McGonagall. Neville gulped in fear.

"Mr. Longbottom," McGonagall said curtly.

Neville stood immediately. "Ma'am?"

She pursed her lips and inclined her head towards the door. Neville did not need to be told twice and scurried out of the common room.

Merlin held his breath as the Transfiguration teacher turned to him. "Is it safe to assume that you brought Mr. Longbottom here, Mr. Ambrose?" she asked.

Merlin shirked under McGonagall's gaze. "Yes, Professor."

"I see. Well," her face softened a little, "five points to Ravenclaw for your benevolence."

Merlin let himself smile. "Thank you, Professor."

"Goodnight gentleman." McGonagall spun on her heel and left.

Michael exhaled loudly. "I thought she was going to tear into you mate."

"I thought I was the only one that stopped breathing when she walked in here," Anthony laughed. "That went way better than I thought it would."

Merlin sighed in relief. "On that note, I'm going to bed."

Anthony agreed. "Yeah, I'm sure Michael doesn't want anyone to bear witness to me beating him at chess."

Michael tilted his head to the side. "Did you just challenge me?"

"I believe I did."

"You are about to forget the taste of victory, my friend."

Merlin rolled his eyes at his friends' antics, grabbed his bag and headed for the boy's dormitory.

"Hey, Merlin?"

Merlin turned to find Lisa walking towards him, curiosity etched in her features. "What was Longbottom doing here?"

"Just a bit of chess," Merlin answered.

Lisa crossed her arms and gave Merlin a doubtful expression. He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"He couldn't get in Gryffindor Tower so I invited him in," Merlin admitted. "I figured this was better than sitting in the hallway."

"Oh." She uncrossed her arms and smiled at him. "That was sweet of you."

Merlin shrugged. "I suppose." At her smirk, he quickly backpedaled. "I mean that wasn't my intention at the time."

Still grinning, Lisa took a step closer towards him. "I'm sure it wasn't."

"Not that I wasn't trying to be nice," Merlin quickly added, afraid he was being taken the wrong way. "It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"Just at the time?" Lisa asked, taking another step.

"Not just at the time," Merlin stammered. "Just, ya know, the right thing to do."

Without warning, Lisa leaned forward and kissed Merlin's cheek. He immediately felt the blood rushing to his face and his ears got hot. Lisa blushed, a grin on her face.

"Goodnight, Merlin," she said softly.

Merlin had to clear his throat before he could properly respond. "G'night."

She was still grinning as she returned to her seat at one of the tables. Merlin slowly made his way up the stairs, unable to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

* * *

The headache that had kept Morgana company for the past few days had evolved over night. Instead of a throbbing pain, it felt as if her brain was splitting in two. It didn't help that her dorm mates were making a ridiculous amount of noise this morning. Every rustle of clothes and every tap of shoes made things worse. Even the subtle sound of the curtains on her bed being pulled back made her cringe.

"Headache?" Daphne whispered cautiously.

Only slightly relieved that her best friend had good enough sense to whisper, Morgana mouthed,  _'Please kill me.'_

"Sorry," Daphne whispered, "but you've got to tough this out. Our last exams are today. Just a few hours and you can lay here as long as you want. I'll even make sure no one bothers you."

Morgana groaned, and the sharp pain that came with it made her wince. _'I don't want to,'_  she mouthed.

Daphne slowly pulled back Morgana's covers. "Me either, but come on," she encouraged. "Nice and slow."

Knowing Daphne was not going to let up, Morgana groaned again and carefully got out of bed.

* * *

Going to breakfast had helped with Morgana's splitting headache. Merlin, despite knowing it would do little to help, had brewed a potion for her pain.

 _'I thought it might help some,'_  he explained.  _'It's not going to make it worse, so you should at least try it.'_

It hadn't worked completely but Morgana was grateful for the dull throbbing in her head. She managed to get through all but her last exam just fine. However, the closer she got to Trelawney's classroom, the worse her headache got. Everyone was sitting on the spiral stairs, getting in a last minute study.

"She's seeing us all separately," Morgana overheard Neville say.

Morgana groaned and rubbed her temples. "Can't I just fail and go back to sleep?"

"No." Daphne pulled her down on the stairs to sit. "No you can't."

By the time Morgana's name was called, she was thoroughly put over with this whole charade. Trelawney was a fraud and probably wouldn't know a real prediction of the future if she heard one. Morgana was determined to have a vision, just so Trelawney could know what a real Seer could do.

She sat across from her professor, a crystal ball sat on the table between them.

"Gaze into the Orb," Trelawney said in a misty voice. "Tell me what you see."

Morgana took a deep breath and began her usual routine for meditating, keeping in mind to keep her eyes open. Her vision became blurry and unfocused as she felt the familiar pull of oblivion. She let herself go, and was not prepared for what she saw.

_There was a graveyard…tombstones everywhere…_

_"Kill the spare."_

_"Avada Kedevra!"_

_**TOM RIDDLE**  etched in stone..._

_"Bone of the father…flesh of the servant…_

_Blood of the enemy…you will resurrect your foe…"_

_A figure rose out of a cauldron…his eyes the color of blood…_

_A curse of green and a spell of red collided in the dark…_

_"HARRY!"_

Morgana stood abruptly, tipping her chair over, and gasped for air. What the hell was that? Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears.

Trelawney was looking at Morgana in awe, "Goddess..."

Morgana rushed from the room, speeding down the spiral staircase. She reached the bottom, caught sight of Harry Potter and grabbed him by the front of his robes.

"Hey!" he protested.

She ignored him, and shoved him into an empty alcove away from everyone's earshot. "He's coming," she whispered urgently. "He's going to kill you."

Harry stared at her, first in fear, then in anger. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"

Afraid to speak, Morgana shook her head frantically. She felt a warm gush from her nose a reached up to touch it. Her fingertips were red and without giving Harry another thought she hurried off to the nearest bathroom.


	11. Chapter 11

Thankfully the girl’s bathroom was empty and Morgana sat in the first stall she could reach and plugged her nose with tissue paper. She sighed in relief, hoping she could take this time to try and figure out what in the world just happened. Of course, the universe is not so kind and her moment of quiet was interrupted by more girls entering the bathroom.

“Have you spoken to him?”

_So Tom Riddle is, who? The Dark Lord’s father?_

“No. I don’t know what to say. It feels so awkward now.”

_I suppose everyone has to come from somewhere…_

“You should have thought of that before you kissed him.”

_Bone of the father, flesh of the servant, blood of the enemy. That had to be some kind of dark ritual._

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Merlin’s not interested.”

_Wait…what?_

“Yes he is; he just doesn’t know it yet.” Once Morgana really started paying attention, she realized it was Padma Patil speaking.

“No he’s not.” And _Lisa Turpin_. “He likes Morgana. You saw how he went straight to her this morning. He didn’t even sit down for breakfast.”

Morgana thought about it and realized that Merlin _did_ head straight for the Slytherin table that morning, but it was only to give her and Mordred the potions that he’d brewed. She could see how that might be taken the wrong way, but Merlin was just being his usual kind self.

“Morgana isn’t a problem,” Padma said carefully. “She’s – uh…taken.”

“Oh? By who?”

_Nooo no. No no no no no._

“Draco Malfoy,” Padma answered. “They danced at the Christmas party and I saw Mr. Du Bois and Mr. Malfoy leave the party, probably to set up a marriage arrangement.”

“So…Malfoy is courting Morgana?”

_This can’t be happening._

“Yes, but I think it’s supposed to be secret. Don’t tell anyone.”

Morgana bit her lip to keep from swearing. _This is happening._

The Ravenclaw girls left shortly after and Morgana opened the door to her stall. She went to the sink to wash her face when she heard another door open. Morgana looked into the mirror and Hermione standing in one of the stalls, apprehension on her face.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Morgana shrugged nonchalantly. “Just a nosebleed.”

“Oh.” Hermione turned on the faucet and murmured, “That’s not what I was talking about.”

“Then what do you mean?” Morgana inquired.

Hermione silently turned off the water and sighed deeply. “I meant that bit about Merlin.”

“We’re just friends,” Morgana said, perhaps a bit too quickly.

“ _Just_ friends?”

Morgana slowly raised an eyebrow. “Merlin and I are just friends the way you and Harry are just friends.”

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but quickly shut it and began to blush. There had been rumors and gossip about the bookworm and the Boy Who Lived but nothing had ever confirmed Morgana’s suspicions until this moment. _Just friends indeed._

A thought occurred to Morgana then. Harry had no reason to listen to her. She was a Slytherin tied to his nemesis, after all. But Hermione was different. She would listen to Morgana, if what was said was logical. And Potter would listen to Hermione, as she was most certainly his voice of reason.

“I know you don’t take much stock in Divination,” Morgana began cautiously, “but just hear me out.”

Hermione crossed her arms. “I’m listening.”

“I had a vision during my final. Not those fake ones Trelawney has,” Morgana added hastily, “but a real vision.” She paused to make sure Hermione was still receptive. When Hermione nodded, Morgana continued. “Harry isn’t safe. Bad things are about to start happening and I think he’s going to be in the middle of it.”

Hermione frowned. “Are you finished?”

Morgana sighed in disappointment. “I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear but I thought at least one of his friends should know. Out of you and Weasley, Potter seems like a smart enough bloke to come to you when he needs help.”

A group of girls, mostly made of Hufflepuffs, entered the bathroom giggling loudly and both Morgana and Hermione chose that moment to leave the bathroom.

Hermione stopped walking but Morgana did not, frustrated that her warning had fallen on deaf ears.

“Just remember what I said, Granger.”

* * *

 

It was the day after finals, and while most students went to Hogsmeade, Merlin and Morgana had decided not to leave Mordred on his own. The Dementors had been sent back to Azkaban earlier that morning. To celebrate, the three sorcerers went for a walk in the forest.

“Was it a full moon last night?” Mordred asked, making conversation.

“Yes it was,” Merlin answered. “Why?”

“It was just a strange night,” Mordred said. “Sirius Black escapes, that hippogriff got away, Morgana slept and Lupin turned into a werewolf. Strange night.”

Merlin stopped walking. “Lupin…wait, what?”

“Professor Lupin’s a werewolf,” Morgana explained. “Didn’t you know?”

Merlin squinted at her. “How exactly would I know that?”

“Well there was the essay Professor Snape assigned us for defense class,” Morgana commented.

“Or that fact that Snape announced it this morning before breakfast,” Mordred added.

Merlin waved his arms around. “Wait a minute, where was I when this happened?”

“It happened in the common room,” Morgana said, gently pushing a branch out of her way. “You weren’t there.”

“Friendliest werewolf I’ve ever met,” Mordred laughed.

“Probably the only werewolf you’ve ever met.” Merlin grinned. “At least he doesn’t have Voldemort hanging out the back of his head.”

Mordred shrugged. “I’m partial to the narcissistic fraud myself, but I’m biased.”

Morgana let herself smile at their banter. Neither of them knew about her vision. She was still debating on whether or not she should tell them. Of course, Daphne’s words kept rolling around her head: best friends don’t keep secrets from each other.

“You okay?” Merlin’s voice pulled Morgana out of her thoughts. He genuinely looked concerned. “You got really quiet.”

She sighed, deciding they had every right to know. “I had a vision during my final yesterday.”

Mordred frowned. “About what?”

“Voldemort.”

Merlin adopted a serious expression and sat at the base of a tree. “Let’s hear it then.”

* * *

 

“Say the incantation again.” Morgana sighed in irritation. Merlin understood. It was the third time he’d asked. “Please,” he added.

“Bone of the father, hand of the servant, blood of the enemy,” she recited. “You will resurrect your foe.”

“It’s obviously dark,” Mordred commented. “And you said Tom Riddle’s tombstone showed up again?”

“Mm hm. I think it’s safe to assume Tom Riddle is the ‘bone of the father’ in all this,” Morgana said. “Blood of the enemy?”

“Potter,” the three of them said in unison.

“If it’s not Harry, I’ll eat my shoe,” Mordred said.

Merlin sighed. “What about hand of the servant?”

“Sirius Black?” Mordred offered. “He did escape last night.”

Morgana shook her head. “I doubt it. The silhouette was a bit more round. You’ve seen the Wanted posters of Black. He’s skin and bone.”

“Morgause.” Merlin blurted. “Morgause knows about the incantation. She knows Tom Riddle is Voldemort’s father.”

“So…Morgause is the servant?” Mordred asked skeptically.

“No, that’s not…” Merlin struggled to find the words. “I just realized how she figured out Voldemort’s return. Tom Riddle.”

Morgana nodded slowly. “Should I ask her about it?”

Merlin thought of his father’s distrust of Morgause. “I don’t think you should.”

“Why not?” Mordred questioned. “There’s no point in hiding anything from her, especially if you’re going to see her again. She read your mind, didn’t she?”

“And I’m not hiding something if she already knows what’s going on,” Morgana added thoughtfully.

Merlin sighed and conceded. “Fine. Just be careful, yeah? We still don’t know what her motives are.”

“Of course.”

“So,” Mordred shifted anxiously on the forest floor, “now we just wait for Voldemort to come back.”

Merlin shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe dad could teach me a few spells this summer and I’ll teach you both when we come back to school.”

“Under-aged magic is against the law,” Morgana pointed out. “I don’t know how you got away with it last time, but I doubt the Ministry will overlook it again.”

Mordred snorted. “Maybe they’re scared of the Dragonlord.”

“Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to ask him,” Merlin said.

“This isn’t fair!” Mordred exclaimed suddenly. “You get to learn a few spells and Morgana gets to learn about our resident evil warlock. What am I supposed to do all summer?”

“Your homework,” Morgana commented firmly. “I swear if I find out you waited until the last minute-”

“Hey, it gets done,” Mordred replied playfully.

“You get decent marks on your assignments, don’t you?” Merlin asked, egging Mordred on.

“Of course I do,” Mordred boasted. “I work well under pressure.”

Merlin turned back to Morgana. “Well there you go. He works well under pressure.” Her incredulous look was priceless.

They argued, in jest of course, and it almost seemed as if they hadn’t just finished talking about visions and the return of the Dark Lord.

Almost.


End file.
